


Act II: The Meaning of, and All Things Regarding Ms. Leading

by namelesslunitic



Series: The Dear Hound [2]
Category: Act Series - The Dear Hunter (Albums), Family Guy (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - The Acts, Coming of Age, Crossdressing, Drama, Heartbreak, Inspired by Music, M/M, Prostitution, Religion, Tragedy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-08
Updated: 2020-06-16
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:14:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 7
Words: 54,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24081907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/namelesslunitic/pseuds/namelesslunitic
Summary: The second part in the story of a life cursed.After tragedy strikes, Brian, now a young adult, finally sets out to discover what lies beyond his home, and just when it seems that he will find nothing but despair out in the world, he meets someone who will change the course of his life forever. The fuse has been lit, and the bombs are about to go off.“We fall beneath the sea of dreams and fail to breathe until we awaken again.”
Relationships: Brewie
Series: The Dear Hound [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1413865
Comments: 7
Kudos: 6





	1. The Death and the Berth

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Family Guy or its characters. Storyline is heavily inspired by The Acts series by the band The Dear Hunter.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one where tragedy strikes.

Everything was about to change.

A new day dawned. To Brian it was a day just like any other day that had arrived over the past year. Though the seasons changed, life with his mother always remained the same. So, the now young adult Labrador thought nothing much of it when he awoke before Biscuit, giving her a quick kiss on her forehead and smiling down at her.

“Be back soon, mom. I love you.”

He watched her for some time, taking in her radiance and beauty. She had been sleeping more often lately, but that was fine with him.

He was more than capable of taking care of the both of them now. She had done so much for him, he knew that, so the dog was more than happy to return the kindness.

To let his mother rest.

She deserved to enjoy all the rest she wanted.

With this in mind, Brian did his best to not disturb the sleeping female Labrador as he got dressed for the day. Once he had finished making the preparations necessary to venture out into their little paradise, he quickly snatched up his knife from a table in the living room before exiting the house and wandering off into yet another beautiful, warm Spring day. He’d be back by sundown. That was the usual routine.

Today was not a day for following routine, though, and this decision to stay out all day would be one that Brian would live to regret long after this day had passed.

For, you see, despite all outward appearances, Biscuit was not resting peacefully. Her body was fighting a losing battle, one it had been slowly succumbing to for the last several months.

One it no longer had the strength to continue fighting.

Less than an hour after Brian had left, she awoke due to a fit of coughing. Her body began convulsing on the floor as she realized what was happening, and a paw went up to the rosary around her neck and held it closely against her chest as she prayed for the pain to pass. It went on for some time, the noise of it echoing off the walls of the farmhouse, a hollow and coarse sound accompanied by a rattling in her chest that would have sounded alarm bells in the heads of anyone who had been there to hear it. But, there was no one there.

Biscuit was alone, and as she was granted a brief reprieve from the painful expulsions firing out of her lungs, she was grateful for that fact. Unfortunately, to her, this was also normal.

She did not want Brian to know, though...did not want her son to worry.

So, she did what she always did.

The female Labrador wiped the blood that had collected on her jowls, staining one of her paws red as she summoned what little strength she had and stood up. She proceeded out of the house and around the back to an area that she had grown accustomed to hiding in when these periods of sickness hit her the hardest. The field behind the house was not an area that was used often. She and Brian had no use for crops, but it was a peaceful spot, especially in the barn where the many bales of hay had been stacked for who knew how long.

She liked it in there. It was a spot that Brian hardly ever entered, but she also found something soothing about lying in the hay.

So soft.

So comfortable.

She felt like, if she could, she’d have no problem sleeping in there for days. The thought brought a smile to her face as she crossed the entryway into the barn. Not long after finding her usual spot, though, the coughing began again. The force of it knocked her right off her feet, and she fell to the ground.

Pain.

So much pain…

Every part of her body felt like it was on fire as she convulsed in the hay, more blood than usual escaping from her mouth and creating a horrifying painting of reds, yellows, and browns. Her paws went up to her mouth, trying to contain the violent spray, but it only served to make them redder than they already were. Soon, red paws had no choice but to cling to the necklace on her neck as she offered up even more prayers to the one she was sure would take care of her.

And it went on like that for most of the day, each episode more violent and painful than the last until Biscuit simply couldn’t take it anymore. Her body had reached its limit, and as the sun began to set on this day and her son began to make his way home just like he always did, the lonely female Labrador closed her eyes with a smile, body continuing to spasm as she fell into sleep for the final time, finding eternal peace and rest at last while her son arrived to find their home empty.

His search for his missing mother began.

By nightfall, he had decided to try checking the barn...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Instrumental)


	2. The Procession

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one where reality is shattered.

“Mom!”

Brian saw his mother lying there in the barn and immediately knew something was very wrong. The hay around her...it was all discolored, and as he rushed over to her to see what was wrong, he quickly realized that the ground was caked in blood…

...and bile…

He rushed right through it, though, tainting his body and clothing with the sickening mixture of bodily fluids as he fell to his knees next to her sleeping form.

_ Yes...sleeping… _

Something was wrong with her, though.

Very.

Very.

WRONG.

He found it hard to catch his breath as he reached over and placed his paws on the female labrador to begin rocking her side to side.

He needed to wake her up.

He needed to find out what was so wrong with her.

“Mom! Mom, come on! You’re sick! We need to get you inside!”

She wasn’t waking up, though. She wasn’t moving at all. And, as far as he could tell, she wasn’t even...breathing…

But, no…

_ No! _

He kept shaking her, figuring his mom was simply just that tired. He needed her to cooperate with him if he was going to fix this, though.

“Mom!”

He began shaking her harder.

“MOM!”

These things happened, right? Sickness came and went, and while he had never seen his mother sick before, it was bound to happen, eventually. It might not even be as bad as it looked, but there was nothing the two of them couldn’t face together. They could get through anything...together…

_...together… _

She still wasn’t moving, though. He couldn’t get her to stir even a little. No response. No signs of life. Just nothing.

There was nothing there…

He persisted for only a moment longer, causing the necklace around her neck to jingle loudly before the thought finally crossed his mind.

_ Is she…? _

The very idea that his mother could be gone for good was enough to make the young adult reel back in horror. He landed in a still wet pool of her blood, the life-giving substance soaking right through his pants as he shut his eyes, refusing to acknowledge the horrible sight before him.

_...nononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononono… _

That one singular word.

No.

It flooded into his mind, trying its hardest to shield him from the reality of the situation, but while his eyes may have been closed, his other senses all but confirmed what he was trying so desperately to ignore.

He could feel the warm blood surrounding him.

He could smell that familiar stench that he was so used to smelling on his own prey.

He could hear that she wasn’t breathing.

He could taste the putrid flavor of death in the air.

He couldn’t ignore the truth, no matter how badly, how desperately he wanted to. Reality simply refused to conform to his desires as his mind’s eye conjured up the image of her he had just seen, no longer even allowing him the grace of escaping the sight of his dead mother.

It was so unnerving, a body of someone he’d spent his whole life with, but...she was no longer there.

Biscuit, his mother, was gone.

The cacophony in the canine’s head went silent as he finally opened his eyes and took in the reality of the scene before him. What kind of world did he live in where the sight of something so...ghastly...could exist? It was difficult for him to even comprehend what must have happened here in this barn while he was off believing today was just like any other day.

How badly had his mother suffered all alone?

The blood...there was so much of it, but he saw no wound on her body. Where had it all come from? He’d killed many creatures in his lifetime, and yet, he’d never seen anything as gruesome as this. It wasn’t even just blood. There were other substances all mixed in that were much more foreign to him, but he still knew that they had all come from her.

How long had it taken for the life to seep out of her?

How much pain had she been in?

He could tell from the position of her body that it must have been agonizing. She must have been moving around a lot, trying to ease her discomfort but to no avail. That’s the story that her sprawled limbs told him, what the agape but still grimacing mouth confirmed. Her eyes told more of the story. They were wide open, as wide as they could be, and he could just imagine her looking up towards the ceiling of the barn, begging for mercy as mercy was finally granted to her.

As the pain finally stopped.

As everything finally stopped…

_ I should have been here… _

As all these thoughts rolled through his mind, it was as if he was lost in a haze. He didn’t even feel connected to his own body, more like a third party looking on as he reached out and placed his paw over his mother’s chest where he knew her heart was, just underneath that cross that always lay around her neck. He recalled all the nights he had spent curled up against that chest as his mother read from The Bible to him. He had felt so safe...so secure… The warmth of her body around him as he listened to that steady and reliable beating heart.

Listened to it.

Felt it.

He felt nothing now.

Nothing at all.

Feeling was too much to ask of him right now as his mind continued to focus on memories, still attempting to separate itself from the present. He couldn’t escape for long, though, as his thoughts quickly caught up but not before lingering on the memory he had of this morning.

He had just said goodbye to her this morning… But, it wasn’t meant to be a permanent goodbye. It wasn’t THE goodbye. Why had he been in such a rush to leave her? How different would things have been if he had just slowed down and stayed with her for just a few moments longer? If only he could have seen her awake one last time. Was that really too much to ask?

Part of him knew that it was. It didn’t take a genius to know that you couldn’t turn back the clock…

No matter how much one may wish they could.

He’d lost that opportunity to see the life in his mother’s eyes one last time the moment he had walked through that door, and there was no getting it back.

Ever…

The finality of it, it was enough to finally bring the tears to his eyes, but even then, he fought them back. He tried to cling to something, any kind of silver lining he could conjure up.

There was one thing.

His mother had been in so much pain. He could see that, so at the very least, she no longer had to suffer. She’d passed on from this world, and if her stories were to be believed, that meant she was in a much better place now.

Had she made it to Heaven?

He wanted to believe she had. He  _ needed  _ to believe that. What was the point otherwise?

So, he accepted that as his truth.

She was in Heaven now, her spirit rising straight up to the sun.

All this time, his eyes had been fixated on those of his mother’s. The windows to her soul were cold and lifeless, but he knew now that it was only further proof that his mother’s soul was actually no longer occupying this husk before him. He no longer needed that reminder, though, didn’t want it. So, he reached out with a shaky paw and placed it over the empty portals.

“I’m sorry, mom.”

He felt like he should apologize for leaving her alone as he pulled the lids down, closing those eyes forever. He wished so badly that he could have been there for her, but now...she was gone. Whether or not there was a life after death did not particularly matter to him because she was gone from the world he was in. Her paradise didn’t do him much good outside of reassuring him that her death served some kind of purpose in some kind of grand design, but for now, she had left him.

Alone…

He was alone…

She had been the only other life he’d ever known.

He had absolutely no one now out here in this secluded place.

It was a truth that was almost harder to face than that of her death. The sadness gave way to fear, and then, he could feel his stomach starting to churn fiercely as he shot up to his feet and began to stumble his way out of the barn, the mess of death dripping off of him and leaving a trail that followed him wherever he went.

He collapsed as soon as he had crossed the entryway back outside, falling to his palms and knees as he vomited onto the grass. He could no longer hold anything in. The tears finally fell as the scent of sickness served to give him a brief relief from the scent of decay. It was certainly the lesser of two evils, but Brian didn’t want to face any of it as he fell to the side and wept under the moonlight. The sobs coursed through his body violently, forcing him to curl in on himself in an attempt to find something, anything to hold on to, even if all he had was himself as he cried up into the night sky.

“WWWWWWWHHHHHHHHYYYYYYYYYYYY!?”

There was nobody there to answer his question. He knew that, but it was one that simply begged to be asked out loud.

Why?

Why was this happening?

Why did his mother have to die?

Why hadn’t he been there?

Why? Why? Why?

So many whys with no hope of any satisfying answers. No, those hopes had been dashed to pieces.

Because he was alone.

He had to face all of this alone, and right now, all he could do with that knowledge was hold onto himself and weep there on the ground, letting it all out as the tears fell from his eyes and down his cheek into the grass. He had no idea how long he was down there. Time had ceased to matter, but after a while, it felt like he had purged all the sadness from his system that he could muster, for the moment. It was a tempting thought to just continue lying there, though. He didn’t feel like he had the energy to even stand, but he knew he had to. So, finally, the canine stood back to his feet, taking a few shaky steps forward before leaning against the doorway for support as he tried to pull himself together. While he was there, he looked over at where the body of his mother was still lying and began speaking to her through a hoarse throat as a bout of delirium took over.

“I can’t believe you’re gone, mom. You still look so beautiful.”

The dog just stood there. How could this have happened? What would he do without her? There was so much he didn’t know.

“There’s so much I want to say. How will I ever deal with these emotions on my own?”

Nothing in life had prepared him for this. He didn’t understand how life could change so drastically in just a single moment.

But it had.

His mother couldn’t hear him, but it felt good to at least pretend like she could, to at least pretend that he had some hope of getting answers to all the questions he still had.

Because his mother had left him with more questions than he could even process. They were questions that he had been curious about for a long time, but every time he’d considered bringing them up, he always pushed them aside for some time later. Well...now he knew that later was never coming. She’d died and taken her secrets with her. He knew nothing beyond a life with her. She had never prepared him for this! Why...would she do that?

His paw clenched into a fist, and he huffed.

He wasn’t sure.

He just wasn’t sure what her motives had been.

Where he went from here was a complete mystery to him, and despite being crushed by the loss of his mother, he also couldn’t help but feel a little resentful of the position he was now in because of her.

He didn’t want to dwell on that, though.

Biscuit had suffered enough, for now, and there was one thing he was sure of.

He couldn’t leave her here in the barn.

There was a task at hand, so he decided to put all of his focus on that as he turned around and began walking back to the house. It was as if he was on autopilot as he slowly made his way back around to the front, casually walking inside to retrieve one of the larger blankets that made up their makeshift bed on the floor before exiting and grabbing a shovel that was propped up against the railing on the porch, not even bothering to close the door behind him as he continued on his way back to the barn.

His face was completely blank as he re-entered the barn and spread the blanket down on the ground beside Biscuit’s body. It had to be. He couldn’t allow himself to fall apart again.

Not yet.

The emotions were still stirring all up inside him, but he couldn’t allow them to take hold when he had this job to focus on. They would paralyze him, all the conflicting thoughts and feelings, and he just wanted to get this over with. He needed this part to be over.

So, the dog didn’t even flinch as he rolled his mother’s lifeless corpse onto the blanket, the jingling of the necklace ringing in his ears as he did so. He tossed the shovel there beside her before taking a hold of the blanket and beginning to drag the weight of the body behind him as he stepped out of the barn for the last time that night.

And so began the slow trek towards the large bur oak tree at the edge of their home. To the mourning young adult, it was the perfect spot to lay his mother to rest, and she deserved the best that he could give her with what little resources he had.

Still…

_ How could she leave me like this? _

It had become the primary question on his mind. It just didn’t make any sense. His mother had to have known that a day like this would come, eventually. Why did he feel so ill-prepared, then? Why hadn’t she shared more with him?

Why had he let her get away with it?

That anger that had sparked in him, it was coming back to overtake everything else he was feeling. A part of him felt guilty for feeling the way he did. How was that fair to his mother who couldn’t even do anything about it anymore?

That was entirely the point, though.

She had loved him. He knew that. There was no doubt in his mind about that.

But he couldn’t shake this idea that, despite loving him dearly, she just might have squandered away all the time they had together.

What a waste…

_ What did you expect me to do, mom? _

What was life without her? What would she have wanted? She always told him to never leave this place because he was safe here, but could he really be expected to continue obeying her? Did she really want him to live out here all by himself until he succumbed to the same fate she had?

No...that couldn’t be right…

It just didn’t make any sense.

He’d walked several feet by now, and it was already taking a toll. He’d managed to get just past the road that led out into the world beyond, but the emotional exhaustion was not helping him summon the strength necessary to make it all the way to the tree. He had to stop for a moment to catch his breath. The canine released the blanket and took a seat on the grass out in front of the farmhouse, his gaze going back up to the sky as he continued to ponder the myriad of conundrums he now faced.

_ What am I supposed to do…? _

He looked back at his mother’s body, and his mind began to flash back to all the suspicious behavior he had observed during his short time with her.

It had been so perfect, at first…

He had trusted her so completely. What reason had he not to? He was young, and she was all he had. He had to trust her. He had to believe her when she told him about the dangers beyond their home. He didn’t exactly doubt that the world outside could be dangerous. He’d read about plenty of potentially dangerous things that might be lurking beyond the trees…

But, then...SHE went out there.

She had left the safety of their home and, yes, he understood that she always came back with food and that it was what got them through the harsher seasons, but what reason was there to not tell him where she went?

Where did she go?

What did she do?

If it helped them, why did she feel he couldn’t know about it?

That’s where the mysteries had begun, but he was older now, practically an adult dog. And, yet, she still never divulged any information about where she went when she left him by the lake and the river alone.

Why?

Why didn’t he have the courage to get those answers before it had been too late?

It bugged him to no end. There was a mystery surrounding her life, HIS life, and the truth of that mystery she'd been so determined to keep from him that he would probably never discover it now. It was an idea that frightened him, this idea that he may never have the full picture of his existence out here.

He just wanted answers.

What did it all mean?

Well...it meant nothing, right now. He couldn’t waste too much time thinking about all that. As far as he knew, he still had a whole lifetime to ponder the secrets his mother had kept from him.

Back to the task at hand.

Brian stood back up and retook the blanket in his paws as he proceeded to the tree. The night air was cool and a small comfort as he marched on. His destination seemed so very far away, though. All the days spent wandering all around the boundaries here at home and he had never stopped to think about just how vast their little piece of the world was. He looked out at the horizon. The tree was merely a speck in the distance, barely visible in the dark of the night.

But he pressed on, eyes focused straight ahead as he looked towards that tree…

...and then beyond.

_ I’d never be free so long as she lived… _

It was one of the few conclusions he felt he could reasonably come to as he looked out at all the possibilities in front of him. If his mother had been so intent on keeping him in the dark and never allowing him to leave, a part of him knew he never would have had the strength to challenge her or go against those wishes. And, from everything he could tell, that’s exactly what her intentions had been. So, in a way, it almost didn’t matter why. The fact of the matter was, he was probably meant to stay here for his entire life.

But, now...he was free to do whatever he wanted.

He was alone…

But he was also finally free…

Not that he was able to appreciate that fact much, right now. No, right now, Brian would give pretty much anything to have his mother back, even that freedom, no matter how much a part of him had wanted it…

Had prayed for it…

It was enough to make him feel guilty. He had been curious about the outside world for a while. Is that why his mother had died?

Because he had yearned for the chance to see what was out there?

He had...never wanted that…

It reminded him of a story he had read one time.

_ Be careful what you wish for… _

What a horrible thought, though, that he very likely could have only had one or the other. It just didn’t seem very fair. Not fair at all…

He contemplated these things as he continued walking through the damp grass. It was well into the night, by now. How late, though, he wasn’t sure. Late enough for him to start feeling tired. Late enough for him to let out a loud yawn as he approached the area right next to the lake. He couldn’t stop, though. He was making progress.

_ Almost there, mom. _

Still, he did shut his eyes as he kept walking, just a moment to relax after all that he had been through. He took a breath. He could hear the sound of the water near him, and it did wonders to soothe the noise occupying his mind, currently. He focused on that sound for as long as he could. It grew louder and louder as he got closer and closer to the area where he and his mom had spent so many days together.

He out in the water.

She over on the bank relaxing in the sun.

He could see it now.

_ Brian was lying on his back in the water, arms moving steadily to keep himself afloat as he gazed up into the sky. He liked to watch the clouds go by. Sometimes, he could make out specific images in the masses of white fluff. _

_ A bird. _

_ A tree. _

_ A face. _

_ It was pretty mesmerizing to the young canine, the perfect thing for him to get lost in as his mind wandered. The daydreams were coming again. More and more lately he had become prone to imagining himself taking part in whatever story he was currently reading or maybe even writing himself. He liked to pretend that he was off on some kind of adventure, facing evil and danger head-on but always coming out the victor. There was an excitement in that. _

_ “Brian! Come on, dear! The sun is going down!” _

_ He always had to come back to reality, though. _

_ He wasn’t some hero. _

_ He wasn’t on an adventure. _

_ His life wasn’t even all that exciting. Comfortable, yes, exciting, no; and the monotony of it could become tiring. But, then, he flipped himself over and began swimming back to shore, and his gaze landed on the smiling face of his mother who was awaiting his return. _

_ And he knew it wasn’t all that bad… _

The memory began to slip away as the sound of the water began to fade into the background. The dog opened his eyes and realized that the lake and the river were now far behind him. Now, the tree was right in front of him, seeming to grow larger as he approached it. Something triggered in the canine, a spark of fear. He was hardly ever out here at night, let alone this far out. The last time he had seen the tree this close in the dark of the night he had been…

Brian shook his head, warding off whatever memory his mind was conjuring up now. He stopped walking and set the blanket down.

They had arrived.

He grabbed the shovel and plunged it into a soft patch of dirt that wasn’t too far from the base of the tree. With his foot on the shovel for stability, he used the weight of his body to shove it down further, and then, he wiggled it around until he was able to pull up a large mound of dirt that he quickly tossed to the side before repeating the process.

Again.

And again.

And again.

Four times.

Five times.

One shovelful of dirt after the other.

One shovelful of dirt after the other.

After another.

After another.

After another.

After another.

Another…

He was completely focused on the monotonous motions of the task. It gave him a focus and not just for his eyes which refused to glance away from their fixated point on the scoop of the shovel. It also gave his mind a point of focus, something it desperately needed right now. All the thoughts and questions that had been spinning around in endless circles were now pushed far into the recesses of his mind as he just kept digging and digging and digging.

It was hard work, for sure, and he was already pretty exhausted, but even that was a blessing to him since he had to push himself so hard just to keep going. And the harder he had to push himself, the less he had to think about things. The hole grew wider and wider and deeper and deeper, and soon, he could feel his muscles starting to ache, a subtle burning sensation that was almost pleasant, in the moment. He welcomed that burn, welcomed the physical pain that could overpower his emotional pain. Because, even though the specific thoughts about his current circumstances were successfully being suppressed for the moment, the emotions were still there. They swirled in him, creating a storm that shot off lightning in his gut. Each bolt was accompanied by a stab into the ground that served as his way of attacking each of them individually.

The sadness.

The anger.

The fear.

The disgust.

The shame.

The anxiety.

The hatred.

The rage.

The loneliness.

The frustration.

_ Frustration… _

That one seemed to encompass them all pretty well. Everything else was almost tangential in the grand scheme of things. It all led him back to that feeling of frustration, frustration with absolutely everything.

So, he continued to take that frustration out on the earth below him.

Another.

Another.

Another.

Progress was slow. Each mound of dirt removed alone did not seem to make much of a difference, but as the hours wore on, he began to see the fruit of his labors. More and more earth was stripped away until he had successfully dug a pit large enough to bury his mother’s body. He kept digging, though. He was finding it difficult to stop. He didn’t want to lose this escape. But, eventually, he had to face the fact that continuing to dig did him no good. In his frenzy, he tossed the shovel out of the pit with a loud grunt before scampering his way out of the hole, and then his wild, crazed eyes landed on her corpse again.

And it all came flooding back.

_ Mom… _

He needed this to be over.

Refusing to think about it too much, Brian rushed over to where his mother’s body was lying and began rolling her towards the hole, that familiar jingling making itself known once again. It happened in a flash. The next thing he knew, he was standing over the hole, shovel in hand and looking down at the body he was about to seal into the Earth forever.

And he just...stayed standing there. His grip on the handle of the shovel tightened, but the dog made no move to begin filling in the grave. He couldn’t. All the thoughts, all the emotions…

They had him paralyzed as he just stood there looking down at his mother for what he knew would be the last time.

This was it.

How could any gracious being dare ask him to continue?

What was the alternative, though? If he didn’t do it, no one else would, and his mother deserved some dignity in her death. She didn’t deserve to be left out where the environment and the creatures that inhabited it could further tarnish the beauty that used to radiate from her. No, he HAD to do this.

Because he loved her…

The tears came back, a slow pour down his face as he sniffled and finally moved to scoop up some dirt out of the pile.

_ Goodbye...mom… _

The first shovelful of dirt was dropped into the hole, covering the necklace around Biscuit's neck. Brian flinched but pressed on. Then another shovelful of earth came down on the lifeless body.

Another.

Another.

Another…

Another…

another…

another…

...another…

...another…

…

…

He began to sob, and his pace began to slow down. It was too much…

But, no.

_ No. _

“AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!”

He couldn’t break now, not at this point. He just...couldn’t. So, Brian shut his eyes as tight as he could, refusing to look down at his mother anymore as he began to shovel the dirt at a rapid pace. The canine allowed muscle memory to take over, and he wasn’t going to stop until the job was done.

_ Justgetitoverwithjustgetitoverwithjustgetitoverwithjustget… _

The mantra looped over and over in his head, spurring him on as he fought past the pain. He continued to cry and wail, pitiful high-pitched whines that rang out into the night as the mourning young adult fought with everything he had left in him just to keep standing. It went on for far too long. It felt like it was never going to end, but in time, Brian could detect no more dirt in his pile. The shaking canine took an unsteady breath and then slowly opened one of his eyes.

It was done.

The shovel came crashing down as it was stabbed into the dirt one final time where it could remain standing as a marker for the grave, and Brian, emotionally spent and physically at his limit, fell to the side and continued to cry. His body convulsed, though not as violently as it probably could have if he wasn’t so drained. The emotional wailing and sobbing from earlier had now given way to quiet little whimpers as a slow steady stream of tears fell down the canine’s cheeks. The tree loomed over him as he just continued lying there, feeling so completely hopeless in this moment.

All he could do was cry.

He cried for himself.

He cried for his mother.

He cried to mourn the loss.

He cried to mourn the now dire situation he found himself in.

No hope.

No direction.

So...he just cried.

He cried well into the night. He cried until he felt the first rays of sun dawn on the new day. The sunlight hit him, and his eyes finally opened. He had to squint against the brightness of it, his eyes needing time to put the blur he was seeing into focus as he wiped the lingering moisture from his face. Even after the crying had finally stopped, the dog remained lying there. He rolled over onto his back and stared up at the shovel still standing tall above him, the only sign left that his mother had even lived here with him. The canine choked back another sob…

...and then remembered that wasn’t true at all.

He turned his head and looked at his clothes for the first time in hours. They were still coated in the mess his mother had left behind, but that wasn’t the sign he was thinking about. On his arm, he still had her final gift to him.

His yellow armband.

The one with the tree.

And that wasn’t even it, either, because he still had his knife right there in the holster on his hip. He still carried pieces of her with him everywhere he went.

They were tarnished, right now, though.

He had to fix that.

The young adult canine shot to his feet, a new goal in mind as he began walking away from the tree. A wind came up from over the hills and blew against his aching body, a gentle breeze that soothed the pain. As he walked, he took a glance back, not at the tree but at the areas past it.

The area beyond.

He had to get away from here.

Brian didn’t have much of an idea about what came next for him, but he knew that much. He was free now, and besides, remaining here where memories of his mother could torture him for the rest of his days was just not something he was willing to do. He had to get away. He had to see what else was out there.

But first...he needed to wash all of this away.

So, Brian turned back, a new goal in mind as he proceeded on towards the lake with the intent to cleanse himself of the night before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lyrics for The Procession:
> 
> The blood, how it paints such a scene,  
> Foul routine pedigree,  
> Mouth agape, stuttered hands attempt to flail and finally agree.  
> Her heart ceases its rhythm.  
> Somewhere trumpets decay  
> In the front by the well wishing wishes that deny the stale smell in the hay.  
> There, no one cry,  
> Place these over her eyes.  
> We are broke and alone.  
> We are broken alone.
> 
> She’s inanimate, bloodless elegance.  
> Fatal fascination breeds a bloom of misery.  
> Helpless hiding tongues, bathed in revulsion.  
> Her lies unfinished,  
> Beauty wilting premature.  
> But we can’t be too sure.  
> No you can’t be too sure.
> 
> Reserved, always playing the part  
> Of a boy left alone.  
> He proceeds to the road beyond the home he’d learn to call his own.
> 
> One life for another...
> 
> She’s inanimate, bloodless elegance.  
> Fatal fascination breeds a bloom of misery.  
> Helpless hiding tongues, bathed in revulsion.  
> Her lies unfinished,  
> Beauty wilting premature.  
> But we can’t be too sure.  
> No you can’t be too sure.


	3. The Lake and the River

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one where The Fire begins to spread.

“It’s time to go.”

The canine spoke the words out loud to the open air after releasing a deep sigh that he had been holding in for minutes. It was a means of motivating himself into finally moving. He’d been out here for what felt like hours, just allowing time to breeze by as his thoughts wandered from one problem to the next. It wasn’t getting him anywhere, though. He didn’t particularly expect it to, all this...thinking. The sun was fully out now, but still, it was hard to move from his spot as he lay on his back in the water of the lake while staring up at the clear sky. It surprised him how...normal it felt out here. Life here at home was just going on like it always did. Nature paid no mind to his plight. But, then again, why should it? What did his troubles matter in the grand scheme of things? These were the types of thoughts that occupied his mind as he tried to relax out there. His brain wasn’t finding rest, but he had also just felt like he could still use some time to physically recover. He’d been up all night, and then, this morning, he had spent most of that time simply trying to get clean after dealing with…

He shook his head, water splashing as he rolled over and began swimming for shore. His body was still aching, but his mind was racing, not allowing him a minute of peace no matter how hard he searched for it. There was no peace to be found here. He saw that now, so with that in mind, he knew he couldn’t wait any longer. There was no sense wasting anymore time. It was time to go. He had to get away and try to put this all behind him.

If that was even possible…

He really hoped it was possible.

Red paws still stained with blood paddled as fast as they could. He had tried desperately to get them clean, but despite other areas of his body cleaning up rather easily, he just couldn’t quite get all of the mess off his paws. But, the stain would come out in time. He was sure of that. For now, though, he had resolved to try not looking at them as much as possible. So, he focused his eyes forward, watching the bank of the river as he closed the distance between himself and the shore. A little while later, Brian emerged from the water. He got down on all fours and shook himself as dry as he could before walking over to an area on the grass where he had left his things.

His soiled clothes were all in a pile, aside from his vest which he had set off in its own spot on the side. He hadn’t even tried to clean them. The dog could tell pretty much immediately after peeling them from his body that they were ruined for good. There had been no reason to even attempt washing them. Off to the other side of the pile, though, were the items he knew he would never be able to part with.

The armband.

And the knife with its holster.

The knife hadn’t required much effort to clean. The blade was still as pristine as ever, and the handle had somehow managed to avoid getting too much on it. The holster had patches of blood and whatever else had been in the barn on it, but it had come off really easily.

The armband on the other hand… That...had taken some effort. He needed it, though, so he had worked hard to wipe it clean of any blemishes, possibly fading the color even more than it already was in the process. He couldn’t really tell. Eventually, though, he had gotten it to a state that he had been satisfied with. So, in the end, the effort had been worth it, he felt.

It was a small relief to know that he could keep these things with him. A tiny smile even spread across his face as he gathered them up, holding them tightly to his chest before walking over to where his vest lay. He reached down with his free paw and carefully flipped open the vest. Blood had soaked its way right through the material, so even the inside had splotches of the now dry substance on it. It was enough to worry him a little as he reached into the inner breast pocket to retrieve one last thing that meant quite a great deal to him.

A folded up piece of paper.

He pulled the small folded square out and inspected it. To his keen eye, it appeared to be in as good of shape as it ever was, and that was enough to satisfy him as he palmed the object and stood back up straight.

With everything he could keep now safely secure with him, the canine began quickly walking away from the lake in the direction of the farmhouse. He needed to find a change of clothes. He needed to pack. The sun shone down on him, drying him even more as he thought about what came next.

This was all really happening…

A part of himself still couldn’t quite believe it. As he walked, his eyes observed his surroundings more carefully than they probably ever had before, just taking in the sight of everything. It was all he had ever known, after all, all he had ever lived for, and this was probably one of the last chances he would ever have to appreciate it. Would he miss it? He knew the answer to that question.

_ Of course… _

How could he not? At the end of the day, this was his home, and he had so many happy memories of his time spent here. He had been raised here. The only love he had ever known...it had all taken place right here, so of course he would miss this place. It meant everything to him, but it wasn’t like he had ever been given the opportunity for much else to mean anything to him. Well, now he could find out for himself if there was more that could matter. There had to be something...something out there had to be enough to bring him the same kind of joy.

Right…?

Would he actually be able to find that kind of happiness?

Would he find a love that ever came close to his mother’s again?

_ This place could be all I live and die for, but...there must be some other reason to go on. _

One step forward.

He had no way of knowing what to expect, though, and that was most certainly frightening. His mother had told him that the danger was too great to venture out there. She had somehow made it, though. She ALWAYS came back to him, so what had made her so sure that he couldn’t handle it, too? He wished that he knew the answer to that question. He couldn’t help but feel like if she had...just...shown him at least some of it, he’d be able to better understand why she had been so insistent on him never leaving.

...Or maybe he’d have realized that she was worrying too much…

That’s what still hurt. He had never been given the chance to determine that for himself, and he felt like, in a way, he had been owed at least that much after all this time. He wasn’t a kid anymore, after all… But, no, she had willingly kept him in the dark, and now, he was going in blind with no idea of what to expect and well...how was that not her fault? To him that meant, whatever ended up happening to him out there, some of that blame would always be on her. He didn’t really like that, having to think about his loving mother like that.

But it was the truth.

And it was a truth that he would simply have to carry with him as he hoped for the best. Because, no matter how scary the idea of venturing into the unknown was, it was still highly preferable to the alternative. Such was the position she had left her son in. Brian just sighed and kept walking.

_ Why, mom…? Why didn’t you prepare me for this? Isn’t that what a mother is supposed to do? I know you loved me, but...I can’t help feeling like you set me up for failure. _

He had no way of knowing if he had the resources, no way of knowing if he possessed the knowledge or any other skills he would need to make it out there.

He was still going, though.

The world was beckoning to him. It had been for some time, and he could no longer ignore its call. He may very well be setting off on a road to his very doom.

But he just had to hope that, whatever was out there that had made his mother so fearful, it was something he could handle on his own.

...And, well, if it turned out that he in fact couldn’t...

_ I’m sorry… That’s on you, mom. _

It was a sad thought, but his emotions didn’t make it any less true no matter how hard he wished for it not to be.

It was interesting, though. He’d only ever known his mother, but as he thought about the role she had taken in his life, he couldn’t help but think about things he had read in comparison to his own limited experiences. From what he could tell, pretty much everyone was a product of those that came before them, to some degree. It made sense, but it was still an odd thought to the canine who had literally no experience in the outside world. He’d only had her. She had been the only influence on his life, and he'd had no choice but to trust her. What was it like when someone grew up around others, though? What did they take from them? What did they discard? How did they determine those choices? His mother had done everything in her power to shape his path to what she personally felt was right for him, but now, he just felt like she had been wrong about a lot of that. Was it just a gut feeling, then? Where did that feeling even come from? What influenced it? She had tried to instill her beliefs in him, and some had felt more right to him than others. Why was that? He still held onto plenty of those beliefs, but why did those particular ones sit well with him while others didn’t? Would he continue to feel similarly once he was out in the world? He didn’t know, but he hoped that by finally exposing himself to others he might finally have all of those answers and...maybe even more. Maybe he’d even find the answers to all the mysteries that surrounded his life. It was definitely something he hoped was the case, despite knowing it was most likely a lofty hope. Surely somebody out there knew his mother, though. She had been getting food from somewhere. He just didn’t know how likely the odds were of actually finding that person.

Did they know about him?

Did anyone out there know about him?

Had she...kept him a secret from others?

_ What does it all mean, mom? What was the purpose? _

Another burning question for him to ponder as he arrived back at the farmhouse. Brian pulled himself back to the present moment as he walked up the stairs onto the porch and entered through the front door. Upon entering the residence, his eyes immediately went to the bed on the floor, a sight which sparked a memory in him as he just continued to stand in front of the open door of the house, completely frozen in place as he began to drift away.

_ The young pup was wide awake. _

_ The sun had gone down quite a while ago, but no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn’t get to sleep. His mind was simply too busy. He’d tried ignoring it, snuggling into his peacefully sleeping mother as close as he could, ear pressed firmly to her chest so that he could focus on the sound of her slow steady breathing. That would normally be enough to soothe him into slumber. _

_ But it had been working less and less over the last several nights. _

_ HIs eyes shot open, and he sat up. He began scanning the room before eventually looking up at the window. From his angle on the floor, he could clearly see the sky and the moon that seemed to be suspended inside it. The vast expanse had always intrigued him, but more and more often lately that intrigue had started to burgeon into desire. The sky was so big, and the limits of his home were so small in comparison. _

_ What all was out there that he was missing? _

_ Surely...it wasn’t all bad like his mother had told him. _

_ He just wanted to know… _

_ The young pup closed his eyes and clasped his paws together in prayer. _

_ “God? If you’re out there, please help me find the strength to one day convince my mother to let me see what is out in the world.” _

There had been many nights like that, but no matter how many times he had prayed for it, God had never given him that strength. And, yet, in a way, his prayers to leave had been answered. There would never be another night like that. He didn’t need to pray for freedom anymore.

...He’d never sleep beside his mother again, either.

He began walking further into the house, looking over the entirety of the area. He was very aware that there was a chance that he may never see this house again. It was a bittersweet thought, and though he did feel like he was in somewhat of a hurry to leave, he still wanted to take the time to appreciate his home one final time. So, the canine began wandering about from room to room, memories of his time spent in this house playing vividly in his head. While in the kitchen, he remembered helping his mother store food, something that needed to be done every time she returned from her trips. While in the halls, he remembered the games they used to play like tag and hide and seek, the pair of them running about while laughing and having such a good time. While in the basement, he remembered helping her clean up down there one day. That had happened not that long ago, from what he could recall. She had asked him to assist her, and despite being afraid to go down there when he was younger, he’d finally ventured down into the lowest section of the house for the first time. It had been so dirty and dusty, but they had actually found some pretty useful tools.

Like that shovel…

He wondered if he might find anything that would be helpful to him on his journey, but after several minutes of looking, nothing really caught his eye. So, the dog just walked back upstairs and made his way over to the other side of the house. There was really one main area on that side of the house, the living room, and as soon as he stepped over the threshold, Brian found himself swept up in recollections of when he’d sit in there and read while his mother watched over him on the couch off to the side.

_ “Oh, wow!” _

_ The female labrador looked over at her son, head tilting as she eyed him curiously. _

_ “That was quite a reaction. Something interesting happen in your story, dear?” _

_ The young canine just sat there staring into his book for a moment before looking over at his mother with a stunned expression. _

_ “This guy… He died…” _

_ Biscuit’s eyebrow arose in confusion. _

_ “Who died?” _

_ Brian set the book down and pushed it to the side as he explained further. _

_ “I’m not...sure how to pronounce his name, but...I was reading about a father and his son. And...they were trapped on an island, so the father made them wings so they could escape. They let them fly!” _

_ The young dog spread his arms out, a momentary look of pure excitement on his face before his arms fell along with his expression. _

_ “But...the son...his wings melted, and he fell into the water…” _

_ He looked away from his mother. _

_ “...and drowned.” _

So many days spent in that room.

He used to be so content.

Brian scanned the bookshelf. He’d basically read everything that was contained within those many pages, several stories more than once. He’d experienced so much through those stories, but now, he was finally going to take part in his own adventure. The thought excited him to no end. The freedom...it was so exhilarating…

There were no longer any limits to what he could do.

It spurred him on. He couldn’t wait any longer. Brian began rushing up the stairs, that thought echoing in his head over and over.

_ There’s no limit to what I can do! There’s no limit to what I can do! There’s no limit to what I can do now that she’s gone! _

He stopped mid-sprint just as he rounded the corner into the upstairs hallway.

“Wh-What…? How could I think…?”

It horrified him. His mother hadn’t even been gone a full day, and yet, what? He was already so caught up in his own excitement that he was willing to forget why this was even happening at all?

What kind of son would do that?

He looked towards the area he had been rushing to, the ladder leading into the attic.

He could see her again.

Everywhere he looked, he could still see his mother clear as day, glowing and radiant, as if she had never left. This time he was remembering the day she had helped him get into that attic. He could see her standing tall as he balanced on her shoulders. He remembered how excited he had been, how happy he had been that she had helped him with the task.

She had done so much for him.

She wasn’t perfect, but she had loved him. He knew that, and he couldn’t help but to feel guilty at how elated he had just been while thinking what he had. Her death...he had no right to view it as this opportunity for him to finally leave, right…? It certainly seemed wrong.

Felt wrong.

He missed her…

But...he was also relieved to finally...be free from her…

He began squeezing his paws tightly over and over, struggling to come to terms with this conflict inside of him.

...devouring him…

It made him feel awful, like the worst son a mother could have, but he also couldn’t deny what he truly wanted.

_ God...what is wrong with me? _

It just wasn’t fair. He didn’t deserve to be in such a horrible situation. His mother had always told him that everything happened for a reason, but what justifiable reason could there be for any of this!?

_ You gained paradise, mom… But...what about me…? _

He puzzled over the question for some time before ultimately coming to the most obvious conclusion.

He didn’t gain anything...so long as he stayed here…

Selfish or not...that was the truth.

And there was nothing he could do to change that.

...And it wasn’t his fault.

He continued walking towards the attic, accepting that this conclusion was the only one that would bring him any kind of peace. If everything happened for a reason, surely God would want him to act on the opportunity the early death of his mother had presented to him. It was sick. It was twisted.

But that’s how it was.

And once again, he couldn’t help but think about exactly why things were the way they were now.

_ It was you...mom… I can’t stay here alone. I’ll go crazy! I’ll lose my mind if I don’t try and find my own path without you. I need to know what’s out there. ...I need to know what you were so desperate to hide from me. _

It was with that resolve that Brian climbed up into the attic to prepare for his journey. Once up there, he set down the items he was carrying and walked over to a box that contained the clothes he knew would fit. He’d spent a lot of time up in this attic. He liked to peruse all the items while imagining where they had come from and who had owned them, each one containing a little story of their own. It was also...in a way...the one area of the house he could call his own. His mother wasn’t capable of making it up here, after all, so if he ever needed a place to hide away, a place to think...or write, this is where he usually went.

He was definitely going to miss the comfort of this place.

The canine didn’t linger there for long. He quickly found a white collared shirt and a pair of dark colored pants that fit him pretty well before throwing them on and going to retrieve his other items. He attached the holster with his knife to his pants with a belt and placed the folded up paper into a tiny pocket on the front of his shirt. He then grabbed his armband and went to put it on.

This proved to be more difficult than he had anticipated.

His mom had always assisted him when putting this on, and trying to tie the thing around his arm now with no help was proving to be quite the struggle. He wasn’t leaving this house until it was fastened back to his arm, though. It meant too much to him, and he always wore it with pride. That was one thing that was never going to change. He’d always have this symbol of his mother’s love, and he wanted others to see that it was a part of him.

The fabric fell from his paw and down to the ground for the fifth time, and Brian couldn’t help but groan as he kneeled down to pick it up again.

“Come on. Work with me here…”

He continued to fiddle with it for the next several minutes, trying and failing over and over before he finally managed to find a hold on it that allowed him to tie a fairly successful knot around his arm. He released a breath and gave the thing a hard yank just to make sure it was secure. When it didn’t immediately come undone, he decided to take that as a victory.

He was ready.

He grabbed one of the empty luggage bags from a pile of luggage that had at one point been stacked in a corner of the attic, a tan leather one that seemed easy to carry on a long journey. It had a handle at the top, so he was able to hold it at his side as he climbed down out of the attic. Brian then made his way down into the kitchen. He took an unopened loaf of bread and placed it into the bag as well as some meat that was wrapped in plastic. Next, he went back into the living room to pack up a few of his favorite books. He also grabbed his own notebook and the pen he used to write in it. All the stories he had ever written were in that notebook. Maybe one day, he’d finally get to share them with others. The thought brought a smile to his face as he then turned to exit the house, feeling like he had gathered all that he needed. The bag was full, anyway, so he just had to hope that was the case.

By the time he stepped outside, the sun was at its peak in the sky. It shone down on him, and he could feel a gentle breeze in the air as he stood on the porch and looked out onto the horizon that he was about to venture out into. He could go anywhere…

There were two clear options in his head, though.

To his left, there was the open road, a clear path that he knew led out into civilization at some point. It was the way his mother always went when she left.

To his right, though, was the great big field he’d grown up with, and he knew what was out there.

The river.

It was a funny thing. He’d imagined leaving this place so many times, and never once had he thought about following the road. It had always been the river that enticed him the most. He loved to swim out into the lake, testing his boundaries as he approached the river only to have his mother call out for him to come back. There was just something about being in the water, and he wanted to follow that and see where it led.

There was something else in that direction, though…

That direction took him to the tree, the very thought of which caused him to feel...anxious. He had stopped going out that far a while ago. He remembered a time when he had loved going out and spending time by the tree, his protector, but that hadn’t been the case for some time. Something about the way it stood there, watching over everything, it made him feel uneasy. He knew that it was sort of ridiculous, but he just couldn't help it.

The tree scared him.

He didn’t think about it much when he was burying his mother last night because he’d been so focused on his pain, but now that he thought about heading out that way again, that fear was enough to give him pause.

_ Which way should I go? _

He began looking back and forth, trying to choose between his two possible paths.

Left, right, left, right…

Left, right, left, right…

Left, right, left, right…

He just stood there, frozen in indecision.

He felt so foolish, foolish enough to growl in anger at himself over the whole thing. It felt like an important choice, though.

“I don’t know what to do!”

It was stupid. The road was obviously the easier path, but he just couldn’t stop thinking about his younger self gazing out and wanting to follow that river to wherever it led.

It had been his dream…

He had to follow his dream.

That was enough for him. It had to be, so after summoning up his courage, he set off in the right direction, taking what he felt like might be his final steps off that porch as he began walking towards the lake. He marched on like a soldier heading steadfastly into battle, refusing to look back as he took these first crucial steps into his new life.

But all the while…

_ “...the whole world is in control of the evil one.” _

_ “The world is a dangerous place.” _

_ “It is my duty as your mother to protect you.” _

_ “The world is nothing but trouble…” _

_ “This...is our refuge from the world, my dear.” _

_ “That’s why you must never leave here. You can never go past this tree, Brian.” _

_ “...It protects us.” _

_ “Do you understand me, Brian?” _

_ “Yes, mom. I understand.” _

_ “...people can be dangerous, Brian.” _

_ “There are awful, evil people out there, my dear…” _

_ “We’re safe here, Brian.” _

All the words of warning spoken from his mother, the fear she tried to instill in him. It was bubbling up, becoming more persistent with each step he took.

_ But, no… _

It was too late to have second thoughts. He wasn’t having second thoughts. It was just hard to not remember all the things his mother told him, all terrifying but...also...so very vague.

Those words had no hold on him. They would not hold him back anymore.

He was free.

The young adult canine smirked, feeling more confident than he could ever remember being before. His grip on the bag at his side tightened, and his posture straightened up as he pushed those words and the fear they tried to stir up in him down into the furthest depths of his mind. His smirk became a smile, and his pace quickened as he strode through the field further and further from that farmhouse that meant so much to him.

Once he was a ways out, though, he stopped and turned back one last time, taking in the distance that he had put between him and that house, just a speck on the horizon now. The wind blew, and the very ground itself seemed to be waving him farewell. A few tears made their way into his eyes, but they were not tears of sadness.

It was just overwhelming.

Things had changed so quickly. Just a day ago, life had been so simple.

He wished things could just go back to how they were before.

Well, no… He couldn’t keep lying to himself about that, even if it was probably the right thing to do. He regretted the circumstances that got him here...but leaving…

_ I don’t feel bad about it. Not at all. _

He raised his free paw up and waved back at his home before turning around and proceeding towards the river, wiping his tears as he went.

Before long he was back by the lake, which meant he was just that much closer to the boundaries his mother had set. It also meant that he could now see the tree appearing in the distance. That spark of fear struck in him again as he walked by the water. Even after he had passed the lake and began walking next to the river, he continued focusing on that tree.

His mother was buried there.

He didn’t want to go any closer than he had to...but he also felt he should visit her grave one last time.

It was the least he could do, right? And, besides, it might do him some good to pay his final respects towards her now that he wasn’t wallowing in overwhelming grief. He was definitely still grieving, but the pain had now ebbed away into a static numbness that blanketed everything else the dog was feeling. As the river diverted to the left, Brian continued walking straight. The tree grew as he drew nearer and nearer. Brian remembered how impossibly large that tree had seemed to him when he was a young pup.

So tall.

So powerful.

Its branches stretched so high above him, seeming to touch the very sky itself as he’d stare up in awe at the natural wonder. He had loved that tree. His mother had said it was their protector, and he had trusted her and believed that. There had always been something intimidating about it, but for a time, Brian had trusted that tree. And he had believed his mother when she had told him that he should never cross it. A part of him had even wondered if the tree itself would have stopped him if he even tried.

That tree had no power, though. It had never done anything but scare him away from disobeying his mother’s wishes. It did not protect him.

It did not protect her…

It couldn’t do anything to help nor to hinder.

And it wasn’t going to hold him at bay any longer.

The fear was still there, but it did little to dissuade him as he marched on towards it. He was going to finally pass that tree, leaving it behind forever in this place where it could no longer torment him.

His heart began to beat faster. He was there. He was practically there! He’d never set foot past that tree, and he was upon it right now, ready to finally step over that invisible threshold that had been put in place for him what felt like so long ago. The entire present moment felt so surreal to him, as if he were in a dream that he could awaken from at any moment. He could just imagine the tree vanishing from his sight as he opened his eyes to yet another morning, his mother still beside him as he got up and prepared for another day of wandering the same grounds he always did.

He didn’t want that.

If this was a dream, he didn’t want to wake up. He wanted to keep going. He wanted to see what was out there. He wanted to know. He wanted answers! He wanted it all at any cost.

_ This isn’t a dream. _

He knew it to be true, and that truth filled him with joy as he laughed and began to sprint towards the tree, bag swaying at his side as he rapidly closed the remaining distance between him and the edge of his home.

_ I’m going to see it all! I’m going to explore and meet other people! All the things I’ve read about, they’re out there waiting for me! New things to see! New things to do! A whole life away from here! I’m so close! I’M SO CLOSE! _

He was so excited that he almost entirely forgot the reason he had started heading in this direction in the first place.

And then he saw it…

And it all came flooding back.

Finding his mother in the barn.

Dragging her body across the very field he was now running so happily through.

Burying her…

The shovel was still stuck there in the mound that marked his mother’s final resting place. Brian’s run slowed to a steady walk as he approached the grave. He still didn’t have it in him to break down like he had last night. He was still numb, but that numbness was now throbbing over his heart as he set his bag down and kneeled down to visit with his mother one last time before he left. The world around him even seemed to go quiet as if they were respecting the solemness of the moment, a cloud moving to block the strong rays of the sun as the wind disappeared. Brian leaned in closer to the mound, reaching a paw out to rest on the dirt as he remembered all the happy times he’d had with his mom.

_ “I made a trap!” _

_ “You got me something!” _

_ “Thanks, mom!” _

_ “Just follow me! I have an idea!” _

_ “We should see what’s up there!” _

_ “Whoooo!” _

_ “Really!? You like it?” _

_ “MOM!” _

_ “Hey, look at this book!” _

_ “What is this stuff! It’s good!” _

_ “Let’s dance again!” _

_ “Mom! Look at me!” _

_ “Can you come out swimming with me today!” _

_ “E dolore…” _

_ “Wow! You caught a lot today!” _

_ “I learned this new game!” _

_ “...magna gloria…” _

_ “Can’t catch me!” _

_ “I love you so much, mom!” _

The memories warmed his heart and brought a small smile to his face as he began to speak to his mother.

“I wish...I’d had more time with you, mom.”

In the end, that was his biggest regret, he felt. Most of his memories with his mother were happy ones, even in spite of his frustrations that he had kept bottled up over the last year.

He loved her.

He missed her.

He hoped that, wherever she was now, she was happy and understood why he had to do what he was doing now. His eyes went up to the darkened sky.

_ Are you up there? Are you watching me? If so, what are you thinking? Are you disappointed in me? ...Are you...proud of me? I wish I knew… _

He hoped she was watching over him.

He hoped she was proud of him.

But there was no way to know for sure, that he could see. She wasn’t here to tell him. The one source of security and comfort in his life was gone, and he was just praying that he could find something else out there. The memories in his head...they were indeed happy ones, but...now that his mother was gone...it was almost cruel how vividly they were etched into his mind. They almost taunted him, in a way, made him wish that he could go back...

For now, though, all he could do was hope for the best. He remained kneeling there for some time, long enough for the cloud to pass and the sun to shine down on him again. He took it as a sign that this final meeting with his mother was done. The canine sighed and used one of his fingers to draw something on top of the mound.

He drew a cross, the very symbol his mother had kept around her neck at all times.

The symbol of her faith.

He felt she would appreciate that as he finally stood up, wiping his eyes of some moisture that had leaked through his pensive gaze. He grabbed his bag and looked down at the grave one more time as he spoke to himself.

“I can’t believe she’s gone, that I’ll never be comforted by her image again…”

The dog continued walking, unsure where he was heading but knowing it would be better than his old home which now held so many cruel memories.

"My mind is full of so many things I want to say, but what’s the point when nobody is here to listen?"

Nothing could have ever prepared him for this, but he had to keep going, a new chapter was beginning.

He took a breath.

“Goodbye, mom.”

And he stepped over the boundary beyond the tree.

"I love you."

And, just like that, he had ventured further from his home than he ever had before.

It was...exhilarating. It was as if he could feel electricity coursing through him, causing his body to vibrate as he took in this monumental moment. His eyes closed and he took several deep breaths.

_ I did it. I made it. I’m...out… _

His eyes opened, and he slowly turned around, taking in the sight of his home from the other side of the tree for the first time. All the emotions he had been feeling throughout the day, they all came rushing back to him at once, and all he could do was stand there as he allowed them a moment of control. He allowed them to fester and intermingle, his paws clenching and unclenching as he took slow and steady breaths in and out of his flared nostrils.

It was a cacophony of noise buzzing in his brain.

How had things changed so quickly? Everything felt different now, and it wasn’t just the loss of his mother. No, there was more. HE felt different, and his home felt different. But he couldn’t quite put his finger on just what all had changed. All he knew was that he was ready for this. The circumstances themselves were horrendous and incredibly unfair. He still felt that way, and he resented whoever or whatever had put him in this situation to begin with.

No mother.

A complete lack of direction with no idea what awaited him along the river’s path.

It was all left into the hands of fate. The world may very well be as dangerous as his mother had warned him it was, but right now, he felt like he could take on anything that was thrown his way. Nothing could stop him.

He was determined.

He was strong.

And he would succeed no matter what it took.

Or at least...he had to believe that because, in these circumstances, he was really left with no other choice than to hold onto that hope or else fall into a never-ending pit of despair. He knew he couldn't stay here. No, he wouldn’t stay here and live out the rest of his days isolated and all alone. That was no life at all, and he would not be condemned to it through no fault of his own. That was for him to decide, his right to decide, and he was choosing to go out there in the hopes of finding something that brought him happiness.

...something that gave his life and all of this some kind of meaning...a purpose…

It had to be out there...somewhere, so in spite of no clear direction in which to steer his life, he knew he had to press on.

Press on.

Press on…

That was his choice.

Brian’s breathing finally evened out, and he clutched the handle of his bag tightly as he turned on his heels and began making his way back over to where the river was flowing, walking in the opposite direction of the current's flow, putting the land of the lake and the river he'd grown up by further and further behind him with each confident step. Before long, everything he had ever known was no longer even within sight, but he wouldn’t have realized that. He refused to turn back any longer. He was done with that. He’d seen enough. He’d said his goodbyes. And all that mattered now was to keep moving forward one step at a time. The freedom he was feeling was unlike anything he’d ever experienced. It was intoxicating and overwhelming, even more so due to all the thoughts spinning around in his head, so many hopes and dreams, wishes and desires for the future he was heading towards. A part of him still wished things could have been different, that this day could have finally come under less tragic circumstances. The pain from losing his mother still burned inside him, but all he had to do was look to the gifts she had given him in order to feel some of that pain soothe in his soul.

His armband.

His knife.

His freepaw reached down and clutched at the handle of that knife as he remembered the day his mother had given it to him. He smiled. She had done so much for him.

She was a good mom...that would always remain true to him.

_ Everything has been turned on its side, and this is all I have left of my happy days with her. God, my mind is racing! _

It was still a lot to take in...to process, and it would probably take quite a bit of time before he was able to fully sort through all of his conflicting thoughts and feelings about what all had taken place over these last several hours. One thing was clear, though, one thing that he kept coming back to no matter where his mind took him. He was happy. In spite of everything that had happened, in spite of everything that brought him to this moment, he was still happy to be making this journey.

He was doing the right thing.

He just knew it.

And that resolve only grew stronger as he followed the river further and further from home.

Leaving home in and of itself was a big step for Brian, but the journey that came after, that actually proved to be more exhausting than the canine had anticipated. He walked and walked, and by the time the sun had set on his first day out in the world beyond the boundaries his mother had set for him, the canine almost couldn’t believe that he had yet to see any signs of civilization. There was nothing new along his path; just the river to his left, the grass at his feet, and the dense forest to his right. He saw plenty of wildlife but none like him, no new friends or companions to meet or converse with. Eventually, he grew too tired to walk anymore, so he found a comfortable spot on the ground to have a bite to eat before lying down to rest, using his bag as a pillow to comfort his weary head before drifting off into a deep sleep.

There was no dreaming.

He awoke with the sunrise the following morning. Not because he wanted to, but because the harsh sun had found a way to shine right in his shut eyes, piercing through the darkness of his closed lids and forcing him to squint against the annoying rays of light as he slowly found his consciousness. He ate a quick breakfast and then grabbed his bag to begin walking again, confident that he would happen upon something of interest sooner rather than later. After all, how much longer would he really have to walk? How far away had he and his mom been from any other intelligent creatures? It surely couldn’t have been too terribly far...right? But, no. By the midpoint of the day, his surroundings had changed very little, and that was enough for him to start growing pretty concerned. His feet hurt. They burned. He’d never done so much walking before in his life, and he had thought that he was always pretty mobile and active whenever he was exploring the grounds of his home. But this was different. This was laborious, tedious. He didn’t want to stop, though. He just wanted this part of the journey to hurry up and be over, but there came a point when he had no choice but to concede momentary defeat as he stopped by the river to rest. He placed his aching feet into the cool waters and leaned over to drink from them, quenching a thirst that he had hardly even recognized was there until the liquid hit his dry tongue. It was so hot out, hot enough that he had to sip water in between pants of breath. It made him feel so tired. The dog felt like he could stop there and get in a quick nap. The notion certainly sounded nice, but he ended up deciding against the idea. He had to get going. He didn’t want to waste any more time than necessary, so after his feet had stopped throbbing and he had drunk his fill, he stood up and began walking again, one foot in front of the other, hoping to see some sign of life around every bend the river took. But, soon, night was upon him again, and the young adult hound had no choice but to stop for yet another day, making sure to eat a decent meal before settling in for the night.

Once again, he did not dream.

On the third day of his journey, he was awoken just like the day before. In fact, a lot of what happened this day felt like just a repeat of the day before, something that frustrated Brian a great deal. He walked on and on, and yet, there was nothing to show for his efforts. It was enough to stir up further doubts in him, but he was too far out to turn back now. Despite the struggle, he quickened his pace on this day. Because surely he was close to a town or something! But, once again, he stopped in the middle of the day to rest his sore feet and to get a drink of water, and once again he trekked until well after the sun had gone down on him. By the end of the third day, Brian was incredibly exhausted. He barely had the energy to eat something before crashing there on the ground, not even bothering to arrange his bag as a pillow like he had the two previous nights.

For the third time he did not dream.

On the morning of the fourth day, the sun was not enough to stir the sleeping canine. He slept until well after the day had begun, snoring loudly, possibly scaring off any wildlife that might have been lurking nearby. His slumber lasted until the sun was high in the sky, and when he finally began to open his eyes, he was greeted by the intense heat radiating on his back. He groaned and wiped some drool from his chin before picking up his bag and continuing along the river’s edge, much slower than he had the day prior. His resolve was weakening. Each step seemed to sap him of whatever energy he had left. He would walk for a little while and then stop to rest by the river and drink. Unlike the previous days, this happened multiple times. He no longer cared about rushing to whatever was out there. Right now, it was beginning to look like simply surviving the journey was going to be a task in and of itself. What had he gotten himself into?

_ How did you do it, mom? _

Luckily for Brian, this part of his journey was nearing its end. By the time the sun had started to set, he noticed the grassy path he had been following start to widen, the dense forest to his right moving further and further away until he came upon a great big clearing. It was a field not unlike the one back by his home, open and wide, and just that small change in scenery was enough to lift his spirits somewhat as he continued to walk by the river. Not long after entering this clearing, the dog caught sight of something very strange.

Something unfamiliar to him.

Something new.

It was on the ground, and he diverted from his path along the river’s edge to go up and inspect it.

What he found absolutely baffled him.

There were two long beams of metal sitting there on the ground sitting only a few feet apart from each other, and they were connected by an evenly spaced series of wooden planks that were placed in the space between them. This strange sight went on for miles and miles. The canine even squinted as he tried to see if they had any end, but they went on long past where he could see. He turned around and confirmed that the same was true of the other direction. It was the most curious thing he had ever seen.

“What in the world?”

Still, he was going to take this as a good sign. This structure wasn’t natural. Someone had put this...thing here, so that meant that maybe…

_ Maybe there are people nearby! _

His tail began to wag at the thought, the most genuine smile he’d had in days appearing on his face as he began to wonder if maybe he should try following the path of metal and wood.

But then…

**WHOOOOOOOT WOOOOOOOOOO**

A loud noise caused the canine’s ears to perk up. He looked off in the direction of it, but he could see nothing. A noise that could reach him all the way out here...must be a powerful noise. His eyebrow rose in curiosity...and slight caution.

_ What...was that? _

**WHOOOOOOOT WOOOOOOOOOO**

He heard it again. This time it was louder. Whatever he was hearing, it was getting closer. He felt his heartbeat start to quicken as he stood there, wondering if he should stay put or not. The ground beneath his feet began to feel like it was shaking. Brian didn’t understand what was going on, but he was quickly growing more and more concerned.

**WHOOOOOOOT WOOOOOOOOOO**

Could whatever was making that noise be causing the ground to move the way it was? Just what was approaching him? The dog didn’t know, but he wanted to get some idea of just what to expect before whatever it was arrived. He stepped away from the metal path and got down on his hands and knees so that he could place his ear to the ground in the hopes of determining just how far away this thing was.

...Or how big it was.

**WHOOOOOOOT WOOOOOOOOOO**

Of course, this was a futile effort, for Brian had no way of discerning just what was so quickly approaching him. The canine had never seen a train before, so no amount of investigation was going to make the answer to this particular mystery any clearer to him in this moment.

It isn’t the train that Brian should be concerned about, though. No, trains themselves do not bring about misfortune.

But what they transport surely can.

And I regret to say that this train in particular, The Delphi Express, is currently transporting a group of men who are, at this very moment, very interested in speaking with Brian.

They know his past.

They know his present.

And they will soon foretell his future.

The dear hound’s path was written in stone from the time the universe began. All the links in the chain have all led up to this moment, the final push he will need to set off on his accursed, ruined path. This chain, and all those linked to it, bind him, and there is simply no escaping the inevitable. It does no good to wonder how different things might have been if Brian had left that spot, how much simpler his life might have turned out if he had given in to his brewing fear and left before that train crossed his path and swept him up in the whirlwind of events that will soon dictate the outcome of his entire life. It does no good to wonder these things because they are not the events that took place.

As sad as it may be to admit, there is no changing the past and...

...no fixing past mistakes...

The Oracles know this better than anyone. They see it all, the destinies of every individual who has ever lived on Earth, including their own. They revel in that knowledge, and right now, they are following their set path, the path that puts them on this train and leads them straight to Brian when the canine is at his most helpless and vulnerable. 

All is as all should be.

And that’s bad news for Brian.

So let us see now what comes to pass next in this story.

Brian continued kneeling there by the track, eyes closed as he focused on that sound. It was simply unlike anything he had ever heard, and before long, he realized that, whatever it was, it was approaching him much more quickly than he had originally anticipated.

**WHOOOOOOOT WOOOOOOOOOO**

The noise was much louder now, an ear-piercing wail that made the dog cover his ears as he jumped back just in time to open his eyes and see something large and entirely made of metal barreling past him along the path he had just been inspecting. His eyes widened in horror and awe, and his jaw fell as he took in a sight that was so strange and foreign that it could have been some kind of monster for all he knew, a great and powerful beast straight out of the many myths he had taken joy in reading back home.

The possibility of witnessing such a thing… It terrified him and caused his heart to beat rapidly in his chest to the point that he wondered if it just might explode, bringing an early end to this journey he had been so confident about only a few days prior. Surely, that fate was more merciful to him than whatever should happen if he allowed whatever this thing was to get a hold of him. But the fear had him petrified, so all he could do was just stare on as the impossibly long monstrosity continued to whizz by him.

Maybe he had gotten lucky?

Maybe whatever this was hadn’t seen him, and so long as he just stayed put, he would go unnoticed by it. He sure hoped that was the case. But when would it end? It felt like he sat there for much longer than he should have needed to, but it just kept going, impossibly large and incredibly fast.

_ Oh my god! What is this thing!? _

**WHOOOOOOOT WOOOOOOOOOO**

The noise finally snapped him out of his fear-induced concretion, spurring him into action as he sprung to his feet. The metal monstrosity had still yet to do anything to him, so maybe he still had time to get away. He didn’t want to waste any more time here to find out whether or not that was true. Without another moment's hesitation, Brian turned around with his bag in tow, and moved to begin sprinting away from the area, eyes focused squarely back on the river he had been following and now felt like he should have kept following.

But, as you and I both know, it was already too late.

Brian would not be escaping in time. If he had gotten up only a second earlier, he might have had a chance, but that is not what happened. As he began to run, somebody was already leaning out of one of the train’s boxcars, a smirk on his face and his arm outstretched in preparation to scoop up the young adult canine before he could bolt away. A hand grabbed Brian by the scruff on the back of his neck, and before Brian had even registered the sudden shock of pain that action brought him, he felt himself being lifted up and off of the ground, now moving through the air as he seemed to float there beside this monster.

It got him.

He was so sure that it had gotten him, and the terror of that certainty made his blood run cold as he threw his arms into the air, tossing the bag behind himself as he placed his blood-stained paws over his eyes in an attempt to shield himself from whatever horrors surely awaited him in the coming seconds.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

**WHOOOOOOOT WOOOOOOOOOO**

Everything...was about to change.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lyrics for The Lake and the River:
> 
> Everything you’d live and die for,  
> Reasons leading you through here,  
> Perished matriarchal bonds,  
> Failing innocence of love,  
> When the world beckons your approach  
> It swallows you whole.
> 
> You’ll believe what you’re led to believe.  
> In the hands of ghosts we’re never responsible.  
> Wait to see what you’re meant to see.  
> The veil lifts when you expose your soul.
> 
> Prayed I would leave this place someday,  
> Joined to alarm from long ago now unconcerned.  
> Euphorically floating upon wax wings, where is the sun?  
> And I still see her face; her beauty, her grace  
> Transfixed like a light in front of me.  
> It follows my soul  
> And swallows me whole.
> 
> You’ll believe what you’re led to believe.  
> In the hands of ghosts we’re never responsible.  
> Wait to see what you’re meant to see.  
> The veil lifts when you expose your soul.
> 
> Left, right, left, right…
> 
> His branches reached so far before.  
> His leaves were bold extremities with great control.  
> Wasted along; he died alone.
> 
> You’ll believe what you’re led to believe.  
> In the hands of ghosts we’re never responsible.  
> Wait to see what you’re meant to see.  
> The veil lifts when you expose your soul.
> 
> She’s inanimate, bloodless elegance.  
> Fatal fascination breeds a bloom of misery.  
> Helpless hiding tongues, bathed in revulsion.  
> Here lies possibility wilting prematurely.
> 
> But the right hand hates the left and the sea’s upset with the sky,  
> So we press on in spite of the spite
> 
> Happiness is a knife when the world's on its side and your mind’s on fire.
> 
> Trying to find the trouble with the trouble I’ve found.  
> Begging my God to make the wheels go 'round.  
> Eat so much but I never get full.  
> Earth opened up and swallowed us whole.


	4. The Oracles on the Delphi Express

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one where fate asserts control.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH- !”

Brian’s shrill scream was cut short as he felt himself being yanked back and then released. He found himself landing on a hard wooden floor, briefly knocking the air out of him as he tried to quickly get a bearing on his surroundings. His eyes scanned the area frantically as his heart continued to race. He was in a room of some kind, a room that was apparently inside the beast that had been roaring by him only a few moments earlier. He appeared to be ok aside from being so utterly terrified.

Something didn’t feel right.

He wasn’t alone.

There were six men in the room with him.

Human men!

They were all dressed in the same outfit, white shirt with a red vest and a black bow tie with a pair of pants to match. They also wore strange hats upon their heads: wide, fully round brims with a small flat mound on top that was circled by a stripe of green. Brian wasn’t sure whether to be thrilled or scared. It was a lot for him to take in. He’d never seen humans before, and now here they were, real and in the flesh. He couldn’t bring himself to move due to how stunned he was by the sudden turn of events. Things were finally coming together as to what had just transpired, though. One of the men was now sliding the door of the room shut, closing them off from the outside. Brian realized that he had been grabbed by that man and tossed in here. As to why this had happened, he had not the faintest clue. As for the other men, three were leaning back on a wall across from him, smiles on their faces as their eyes stared unwaveringly in his direction. Another was sitting off in a corner by what appeared to be a giant box, and then, the last one was currently rummaging through a bag of some kind…

_Hey, wait a minute!_

The door shut just as Brian finally got himself together enough to shoot up to his feet. The room then went dark aside from what little light was provided by four lanterns hanging in each corner of the room. It was enough to give Brian pause as he took in an atmosphere that was only serving to make this whole situation more eerie to him. He gulped and summoned up the courage to speak up to the man with his bag.

“H-Hey! What are you doing!? That’s mine! Give it back!”

That man stopped what he was doing and looked up from the bag and at Brian. There was a moment where their eyes met, and Brian felt himself wanting to flinch away. He stood his ground, though, scrunching his face in an attempt to show this man that he meant what he said. The man didn’t seem phased by this in the slightest. He just laughed, a cocky smile on his face as he tossed Brian back his bag. The dog caught it as the man spoke to him.

“You’re lucky we happened upon you when we did. With the provisions you had, I can’t imagine you would have made it out there for much longer.”

He chuckled.

“That is...unless you consider yourself a decent hunter.”

Brian clutched his bag tightly, wanting to answer back that he was a _great_ hunter. He couldn’t find his voice, though. His momentary spark of courage had passed, and now, he was just standing there on the shaky floor, swaying from side to side and trying to determine if he was in any danger or not. He kept a careful watch on all the men looking at him. The man that had grabbed him was moving closer, still wearing the same smile as all the rest.

The scared canine took a step back as the man began speaking to him in a booming voice.

“What were you doing all the way out here, anyway, kiddo?”

His shouts were quite intimidating.

The dog stared up at the man who had come to stand beside him, again wanting to speak, wanting to correct this guy.

Because he was _not_ a kid.

Not anymore…

He opened his mouth to speak, but only a puff of air found its way out of him.

No words.

Not a sound.

Then...he heard music.

His ears perked up at the sound, and his eyes moved to see that it was coming from the corner with the man by the box. A lantern hung over the man, casting him in a bright light as Brian realized the music was coming from the man’s hands. It then dawned on Brian exactly what the box was.

_Piano…_

He’d only ever heard of the instrument. This was his first time hearing one, and he found his head moving with the steady rhythm of the melody.

Up.

Down.

Up.

Down.

It was most certainly pleasing to his ear, almost jaunty, but...there was also an edge to it. Everything about this situation was putting him on edge… He couldn’t focus on the music right now. His gaze went back to the man looming over him, and he instinctively took another step back, drawing closer to the wall behind him.

The man frowned and shook his head.

“Don’t mind Johnny over there. He just can’t help himself sometimes, always gotta be playing a little ditty on that thing.”

He rolled his eyes, but Brian just continued to stare up at him, still unable to bring himself to form words.

The man sighed.

“Jeez, kid. You’re gonna have to grow some thicker skin there if you wanna make it where you’re goin’.”

He placed his hand on the dog’s shoulder and leaned in closer.

“It would seem that fate has steered you right here with us.”

He winked at the canine.

“And that’s a good thing, too, because…”

He titled his head, that unnerving smile returning to his lips.

“You aren’t in the land of the river and the lake anymore, Brian…”

Brian’s eyes went wide in shock and surprise. This man...how did he know his name? How did he know where he’d come from!? His jaw dropped, but the man continued before he could say anything else.

“Shocking, right!? I’m sure you have many questions, but we’re not exactly here to answer all of them, my boy. No, I’m afraid there’s no time for that. You’ve put yourself on a dangerous path, Brian, and by golly it’s about to get you in a world of trouble. Luckily, we’re here to warn you about the mistake you’re making by leaving your innocent little home. Maybe by the time you’ve heard what we have to say, you’ll wise up and turn on back around like a good boy.”

The man laughed as he removed his hand and stood back up so that he was tall over Brian.

“I mean, you won’t… We know that for sure, but ain’t it a little fun to at least try to turn the tides of destiny? We sure think so!”

The man laughed and then stepped back, his hands motioning towards the other men. Brian turned his gaze towards them and watched as the three men who had been leaning against the wall walked over to join the man who had taken his bag. They all stood in a line, their eyes focused squarely at him as they began to sing along to the tune of the music being played on the piano.

**_YOU SEEK ESCAPE BUT YOU HAVEN’T THOUGHT THESE ACTIONS THROUGH_ **

Their voices were mesmerizing. Brian found himself drawn into the soothing melody in spite of the words of caution they were sending his way.

**_YOU FOLLOW DREAMS BUT AREN’T PREPARED_ **

It was the most haunting thing he had ever heard. It didn’t feel like it could be of this Earth…

**_TROUBLE FOLLOWS YOU_ **

An ominous note was struck, both on the keys and in Brian’s heart. He didn’t like what these men were saying. He didn’t understand why this was happening. Were these men just trying to scare him? He wanted to believe that was the case, but how had they known about him and his home? What did they want?

The music continued to play, only now it didn’t feel quite as jaunty as it had previously. There was something dark in that music, and Brian wanted nothing more than to escape it.

There was simply nowhere for him to go, though. He was trapped and in the dark.

His anxiety over the situation was rapidly increasing, and soon, he could feel himself starting to breathe heavily as he looked back to the man beside him, finally bringing himself to speak, not through courage...

...but through desperation.

“Who...are you?”

The man’s smile grew as if he was pleased to finally hear the dog speaking to him

“The name’s Vern! But, it doesn’t really matter who I am alone.”

The group began singing again, this time one man at a time in sequential order down the line.

**_WE ARE THE ORACLES_ **

**_WE ARE CONSTANTS_ **

**_WE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN_ **

**_AND WE NEVER WERE_ **

The dog’s nails began to dig into his bag as his fear grew. What did any of that even mean!? He somehow knew that he wouldn’t be getting those answers, so he moved on to another burning question.

“Where...am I?”

Vern looked around the room as if presenting it to the dog.

“You’re in a boxcar on The Delphi Express, a train that will soon be arriving in a little city called Quahog, and when it gets there, you’re going to have to make a crucial decision that will determine the outcome of the rest of your life, kid.”

He held out both of his hands to emphasize his point, raising one higher than the other.

“Forfeit your plans and go home.”

He raised the other hand even higher.

“Or get off there and continue on the path that destiny has already determined for you.”

His hands were then lowered as his arms were folded over his chest, his eyes staring seriously at Brian.

“Now, we know how this is going to go. It always ends the same, after all. But, it’s also our destiny to attempt, even if futilely, to warn you away from the dangers you’re heading for.”

Brian was attempting to get his breathing under control, but what the man was saying to him was making it almost impossible. He didn’t understand any of this. No one could predict the future, right? He’d read about all kinds of mystical happenings and experiences, but he’d never once witnessed anything like that. So, what reason did he have to believe any of this? Any faith he’d ever had in...magic...it was never rewarded.

So, why should that change?

As he pondered these things, Vern reached into his pocket and retrieved a deck of cards. He began to shuffle them cleanly and expertly, a touch of showmanship as he walked over to one of the wooden boxes that were situated at the end of the train car, placed beside a lantern and kitty-corner from the piano. The man took a seat, leaning against the wall as he motioned with his head for Brian to come join him. The dog found himself moving obediently before he even realized what was happening. He stepped into the light, squinting against the harshness of it as he took a seat across from the man on the opposite side of the box. He set his bag aside and continued to watch Vern shuffle the cards. They were soon joined by the four men who had been singing, the group of them coming to stand in a semicircle around Brian as their voices were once again made known.

**_YOU’VE BEEN STUCK IN THE MIDDLE OF PATIENCE AND ANIMOSITY_ **

Brian tried to ignore them, but their presence was overbearing, their eyes staring down at him. He could feel them.

**_WITH A LUST FOR SOLIDITY AND A CRYPTIC HISTORY_ **

The canine closed his eyes and took a deep calming breath.

**_YOUR LUCK’S RUNNING THIN_ **

“What do you feel you need help with, Brian?”

Vern’s voice, a loud but otherwise normal speaking voice, grabbed the dog’s attention. He opened his eyes and saw the man staring at him with what seemed to be curiosity. Brian still didn’t like what was happening, but...these men hadn’t made any actual move to hurt him. And it wasn’t like he had any way of escaping, especially with them all circling him now. That question, though… Brian realized, after everything he’d been through over the last few days, he now actually had someone to talk to, and despite the circumstances being nowhere near ideal...he couldn’t stop himself from finally venting it all out to someone who could actually hear him.

Who actually seemed to want to hear him...

“I...I feel so lost…”

Vern nodded and continued to shuffle as Brian elaborated.

“I...I’ve spent my whole life in this little secluded spot of the world because it’s what my mother wanted, and you know, that was fine for awhile because I had her, but…”

His mind began to flashback to all that had occurred over the last few days. It was enough to make him want to break down again, but he fought back any tears that wanted to escape. He didn’t want to seem too weak in front of these mysterious men.

“That’s not the case anymore…and I...miss her. I think she wanted me to stay there, but...I just couldn’t! I didn’t want to be alone!”

The music continued to play, seeming to grow more somber as he went on. At the same time, Vern was finishing up with his showy shuffling. He cut the deck three ways before reforming it and then spreading the cards across the top of the box, leaving them facedown as he continued to listen to the canine.

“That’s… That’s understandable, right? Why would I want to live out there alone? It’s not fair!”

His paw clenched into a fist and came down hard on the box. Vern just watched on, hardly any emotion in his expression.

“I know she was trying to protect me, but now, I have no one to guide me! She refused to ever let me leave, and I feel like she set me up for failure! Why!? Why would she do that!? It seems so…”

His fist clenched tighter, as did his teeth as he fought down the growing anger and forced himself back into a calmer state. After a few seconds, the tension in his body let up a bit and he brought his paw back down into his lap, sighing and shaking his head sadly.

“...so...wrong…”

Everything seemed wrong.

The train car went silent except for the music still coming from the piano, the tune shifting again into a lower register that made the dog’s hair stand on end. They just sat there for a while, Brian not sure what the man was waiting for as he stewed in the words he had been so desperate to speak aloud for the last few days. A few more moments went by, and then, Vern finally motioned to the cards on top of the box.

“Will you give those a wash for me, Brian?”

The canine blinked, surprised by this response.

Surprised to have his heartfelt words seemingly go ignored…

He didn’t feel like pressing the issue, though. What did this man really owe him, anyway? Besides, now he was just confused.

“You...want me to clean them?”

Vern stared at him for a moment before laughing in a manner that Brian found to be a bit derisive. The dog frowned, not understanding what was so funny until the man stopped laughing long enough to explain.

"No, kiddo! It’s card lingo! Look…”

He held his hands out above the cards and began to move them around.

“Just move the cards all around. Keep them facedown, though. It’s not quite time to reveal any of them just yet.”

The canine wasn’t sure what the point of all this was, but he still reluctantly did as he was told, using his paws to move the cards all over the top of the box until Vern indicated for him to stop.

“Ok. That should be enough.”

The dog removed his paws, and Vern proceeded to gather the cards back up into a flush deck before fanning them all out so that the backs of them were all visible. He then looked at Brian, a small grin on his face.

“We’ve already told you that leaving home was a bad idea. You may be frustrated, but your dear old mom was right, boy. You’re heading straight for trouble, so…”

He leaned back and nodded towards the cards.

“How about we see what all fate has in store?”

Brian felt a strange feeling forming in his stomach. He titled his head at the man, not sure what he was supposed to do until Vern finished explaining.

“This is all on you. The cards will reveal to you your destiny.”

He held out his left hand towards the canine.

“Hold it out like this. Pick as many cards as you want and arrange them on your side of the box in any order. We will read them and tell you what they mean when you are done.”

The cards? They could predict his future? Brian still wasn’t buying these claims entirely, but he felt like he had no choice but to keep playing along, no matter how much these men were making him uneasy. The dog leaned forward and reached out with his left paw. He began waving it over the row of cards, trying to determine which one he should pick.

_How do I know which ones to choose?_

Almost as soon as the question had entered his mind, the dog felt his heart seemingly skip as it came to hover over one card in particular. It was enough of a shock to him that his paw stopped.

_What the…_

It was as good a sign as any. He put his paw down on the card and slid it away from the others over to his side of the box. To his surprise, he was able to detect that same sensation every time he began searching for a card, and he used that gut feeling to pick four more cards, placing one of them on each side of the first card he had chosen so that it now occupied the center of his arrangement. He went to grab a sixth, but then, he noticed the shape that was beginning to form in front of him.

He was one card away from forming a cross.

Her necklace...

_Mom…_

His paw retreated. He’d chosen all he needed to. He looked back at Vern, who had been watching him this whole time.

“There. These are the ones I choose.”

The man clapped his hands and shot himself back up into a full sitting position.

“Excellent! Let’s get started, then.”

Vern reached over, not wasting any time as he flipped over the middle card. Brian looked at it, reading some text at the bottom.

_The Lovers…_

The music picked up tempo as Vern whistled.

“Hoooooo! Ok. Well, that’s a start.”

Brian just stared down at the card, wondering what it was supposed to mean. The design didn’t reveal much to him, just two humans who were mostly naked holding each other in a body of water, their reflections clearly seen in the pool as they stood gazing up at what Brian assumed was the sun.

“We detect poison in the well…”

Vern whispered so quietly that Brian almost didn’t even hear it, but before the canine could ask what exactly that meant, Vern was placing his finger on the card.

“This card represents your present situation, sport, and while you may not see it, it reveals a lot about what is going on.”

The dog looked up at the man, still unconvinced but watching closely as the man eyed the card seriously.

“How? What do you see?”

The man began to explain.

“Your mother’s death weighs heavily on you. That much is clear even without the cards, but the impact of that death is going to lead you to make some very rash and questionable decisions, of which there will be many on the road ahead.”

Ok, so far this didn’t seem like anything all that informative, but Brian sat there listening attentively as Vern continued.

“You know nothing outside of the life she laid out for you, and unfortunately, you have determined that the life she chose is not the life you want. So, here you are, wandering beyond your home without her. You feel cold. Empty. Aimless. The question is really, what will you do now? It’s the question that’s been eating away at you ever since you found her in that barn.”

The dog suppressed a gasp. It was another detail that these men should have no way of knowing. He still wanted to believe there was some rational explanation for how they knew all they did, but right now, he was at a loss. It definitely further piqued his curiosity, though, as the reading went on.

“And, really, what can you do, Brian? You weren’t prepared for this. No one thrust into your situation could ever possibly be, but there’s an impulsivity in you that will most certainly lead you astray. You seek guidance, yes, but most of all, you seek comfort. You seek the kind of comfort you had grown so accustomed to back at home, and you are terrified that you may never again feel the kind of love that secures that comfort in your heart. A pure love. A selfless love. You’ll never forget your mother, but you do seek a replacement for the affection she lavished upon you day after day. Just be wary that you do not fall further into uncertainty in your pursuit of the familiar. There is another out there who will provide you a feeling of peace, but it will come with a price. Your desperation will cause you to trust them all too willingly, and for a time, you will believe you have found that love that you fear is long lost.”

Brian’s eyes widened a bit.

_Another…?_

He felt a warming sensation enter his heart. It brought him reassurance despite the warnings he was being presented with.

“But that feeling will be misleading. There are hints of deception at play. The circumstances surrounding your time with this person require it. Your obsession and desire to have someone at any cost in order to find peace will bring you both to ruin. You will feel betrayal, but it is not clear just whose hands are stained redder. The pain will be far too great for you to handle, and just like you are doing now, you will run away, once again seeking comfort elsewhere. But these actions will not save your wounded soul. Sadly, it will be the pattern that takes hold of your whole life, and your exit from this relationship will perfectly illustrate this flaw as your fear drives you further and further into inescapable misery. When the bombs start to go off, it will be too late to turn back.”

Vern finally looked up from the card, meeting Brian’s gaze.

“It’s all right there, all the pain and arrogance, but you can save yourself from it all just so long as you go back home.”

_How could they know all of this? They couldn’t possibly be right._

That was all that Brian was able to think right now as he just sat there taking everything in.

**_THE FLAME IS GONE THE FIRE REMAINS_ **

The group around him sang out the mysterious phrase, leaving the canine even more baffled.

_The flame…? The fire…?_

Vern shut his eyes and nodded his head as his hand moved over to the card on Brian’s left.

“It really is that simple, but we all know that you won’t listen.”

Brian didn’t get a chance to retort before the next card had been flipped, and he wasn’t even sure if he would have regardless of having all of his attention drawn to the new image before him. He read the words.

_The Sun…_

And Vern began to tell him just what it meant.

“This card is representative of your past. It is an important card because our pasts always dictate our futures. The past brings clarity to the present just so long as we look at it honestly. Here’s what we see in your past, Brian.”

Brian analyzed the image, trying to see whatever this man was seeing. It didn't make any sense, though… It was just a drawing of a radiant sun at the top with some kind of circle marked with strange symbols. The circle sat at the bottom of the card, and it was surrounded by what looked to be planets, everything suspended in space. He saw nothing of value, but Vern proceeded to pull things from it that he found to simply be impossible.

“Your isolation may have put you in the situation you are currently in, but this card indicates that, at the very least, your time back home was full of innocence and happiness. The love your mother had for you was sincere, and that came through during every day you spent with her, even if you developed concerns over time. That love will never be in doubt.”

He smiled at the canine.

“Will it, kiddo?”

Brian shook his head.

“No. Never…”

It was the truth.

Vern nodded and continued.

“All things considered, she gave you a good home full of warmth and comfort. For a while, you felt things were pretty perfect! You did not know severe heartache. The pain was minimal. A boy couldn’t ask for a much better childhood.”

The words brought a smile to Brian’s face as he recalled the happy time he had spent back home. It really had been his own little paradise...

“But, unfortunately, the cost of that safety, of that security, is now making itself known. Despite her best efforts to keep you away from the rest of the world, there was one thing she could not control, and that was your curiosity. This curiosity set in when you were very young, and it has only gotten stronger with time. You wanted context and truth, and the pieces she was providing you simply were not fitting into the puzzle of your life. You became bewitched by the warmth of the lake and yearned to follow it out to the river. You wanted to see where the water led, but she held you back at every turn.”

_“What’s out there, mom?”_

Brian’s smile fell slightly, but he still said nothing as he continued listening.

“Her attempt to shield you from the truth has only served to fuel your drive to see more, and now, you are free to follow that drive to its bitter end. Where once there was optimism about the long life you would lead with your mother at home, now all you have is an uncertainty about the kind of life you will lead on your own. The times of having no troubles, no worries, are long gone, and while you may yearn for their return, you also want to at last step into the light to see what has been shrouded from you for so long.”

**_THE FLAME IS GONE THE FIRE REMAINS_ **

Brian barely reacted to the chorus as he thought about what all was being said. It was true, all of it, but what was he supposed to gain by having things he already knew reiterated to him? This still just did not make any sense to him, and he needed to know what the point of this whole exercise was. He sighed and shrugged as he addressed Vern.

“I don’t know how you know all of this, and I realize you’re probably not going to tell me. But at least fill me in on why you’re doing this in the first place. How is this supposed to help me?”

Vern quirked an eyebrow at the young adult canine, pausing for a moment before responding.

“We told you, Brian. There is no helping you.”

The dog just looked on, not sure what he was supposed to even say to that as the man kept talking.

“But there are forces at work here that even you will never be able to fully comprehend. When we say that all you have to do to avoid this future is just go back home, that is true, but no matter how much we warn you, we already know you will not listen. However, it is important that you at least have some idea of what to expect in the years to come. So…”

His hand moved over to the card on the right.

“Let’s see what that future holds.”

Vern flipped over the card. This one was different. Unlike the others, it had landed upside down. Brian reached over to try and turn it around so he could see it better, but the man’s hand latched onto his paw in a flash, stopping him.

“It’s exactly where it needs to be. Everything about these cards is as it should be. Don’t try to change them.”

Brian yanked his paw back, craning his neck to try and see the card better since he was apparently not allowed to move it.

_The Moon…_

He inspected it as Vern went on.

“Cards that hold one meaning will take on the reverse of those meanings when they appear like this.”

The canine hummed to himself, eyes still focused on the image on the card. There was a moon up top with a face and below it was some strange clock mechanism with two wolves howling on either side and standing on top of a body of water. Two pillars shot light up into the night sky, and there was another creature that Brian didn’t feel like he was able to recognize. Again, it all meant nothing to him, but Vern obviously saw something different.

“When The Moon is reversed it signals great distress in the years to come. There will be conflict and confusion, even more than you may feel already plagues you. In this future, you have come to a point where any and all circumstances in your life are no longer within your control. Your intuition is clouded, but it’s not like it has ever led you anywhere but in the wrong direction before.”

More doom and gloom...

Brian had about had enough of this, at this point. How long was he meant to continue sitting there while this cocky stranger did nothing but tell him that he was somehow doomed to a life of misery? What right did this man have to undercut what little hope he had managed to pull together from his tragedy!? The fear was still there, but that fear was quickly turning to anger as he continued to listen to this nonsense.

“You are torn between the same impulses you have always had and an overwhelming desire to finally give up. What is the point, anyway, when all is so obviously lost? All your ambition has only led you to fall into a trap of your own making, and now, there is no escape that you can clearly see. It has left your mind in a constant state of inner turmoil. You do whatever you can to alleviate it, but all the self-care in the world isn’t even enough to salvage your shattered reality.”

The dog felt his paws starting to clench into fists.

“You have done and seen horrible things all throughout your life. It has left you cold and jaded. You have lost faith in yourself and any and all cause. You no longer have ambition nor motivation.”

His body started to shake.

“All of this is holding you down, but in the midst of it all, you feel an inner voice calling out to you. It is not entirely clear where this voice is coming from, but it reminds you where you’ve been. The memories are too painful, so you try to ignore it but there is no running from your problems anymore. You loathe yourself and the life you’ve been cursed to lead. Your sadness grows stronger with each passing day, drowning the last remaining bit of hope you have left in this world. You resent it, that voice and the despair that it brings, but you should give it audience as it may just hold the answer you’re so desperately seeking. Until that day comes, though, you detest your life. You detest yourself. And the only future you can imagine is one full of regret and bleakness.”

Vern then smirked and leaned in closer to Brian, whispering to the animal as he finished.

“After all, that is what your life is now, and what hope can there ever be of experiencing anything different when there’s no sign in sight of anything ever changing?”

That smug expression was enough to send Brian over the edge. It was one thing to claim that his future was a dire one, but it was entirely another to act so smug about it. The dog bared his teeth and shot up to his feet to leave but then was immediately grabbed by the group and forced back into a sitting position as they sang right into his ear.

**_THE FLAME IS GONE THE FIRE REMAINS_ **

He flinched at the voices and tried yanking his body free from their grasp, but their hold on him was simply too tight. After struggling to escape for a while longer, he finally gave up and growled loudly, eyes full of fire as they stared at the man giving his reading. His hope was to intimidate the man, but Vern just kept smirking at him. The longer he was held there, the more helpless he couldn’t help but feel, and it lit fear in him anew, even stronger than it had been before. It paralyzed him, sent his heart racing while he stared at this man who was holding far too much power over him in this moment. He did not want to give him further satisfaction by showing that fear, though, so he just kept growling, teeth showing and occasionally snapping as the men continued to hold him down like a feral animal while he began to scream.

“Stop it! Can’t you see that I don’t want to hear any more!? I don’t believe any of this! There’s no way you could know any of that! Are you just trying to scare me!? Because it’s not working, and I refuse to play your dumb game anymore!”

He tried jerking away again, but it was no use.

“Let me go! Let! Me! GO!”

Vern continued to not seem phased in the slightest as he sighed and placed his hand over the bottom card.

“If you really want this to stop, sport, we can stop, but just know that doing that will cause you to lose out on some pretty critical information about the trials to come. Hearing about it won’t change anything, but we’re offering you an opportunity to at least be somewhat prepared. Think of it as the gift of eventual clarity.”

He laughed and pulled up the corner of the card.

“If this is really all just some sick joke, then you have nothing to worry about. No harm in continuing, right? But…”

He raised the card’s edge higher.

“If you’re wrong, and we are right about all of this, then you’re only hurting yourself by not sticking it out.”

There was a snicker as he lowered the edge and laid the card back flat on the box.

“Either way, it seems that your best course of action would be to finish this ritual with us, right?”

Brian didn’t answer right away. He was trying to calm himself down since it was apparent that his snarling and flailing were not going to do him any good here. The canine was listening, though, and as loathe as he was to admit it, Vern was making a decent point. Was he really being given this choice, though, or was it just another game for these men to get some sick enjoyment out of? After several seconds of silence, Vern spoke up again.

“If you do decide to end the reading here, at least allow us to give you these parting words.”

He then looked at the dog gravely as the tone in his voice shifted into something more...stern.

“Remember, Brian, there will be many sirens calling to you in that place, and you must do everything you can to ignore them or you will risk becoming a slave to their temptations.”

It was just more babble that the canine hardly understood the meaning of, but something about it struck a chord in him. Something about the intensity in Vern’s expression…

It reminded him of his mother…

And that gave Brian pause and made him actually wonder if there was some truth in this.

Was he really doomed?

No… Of course not, but...

The dog flared his nostrils and huffed, his mind trying to decide what he should do next. The fact of the matter was that there was nowhere to go. He was stuck on this train with these men until it finally reached its destination, and while he did not appreciate the way they had been treating him...a part of him was actually still curious about what came next.

About what the final cards would apparently reveal.

He still felt like he had been given no real reason to believe everything Vern was saying, even if the man obviously knew more than Brian felt anyone could, but that didn't mean the canine wouldn’t eventually regret ending the reading early, out of sheer curiosity over what the full outcome might have been.

The anger he had felt only a little while ago had already eased up for the most part. There were only two more cards left. What was the harm in seeing what they had to say?

With his mind made up, the canine gave a firm nod of his head in Vern’s direction.

“Alright. Go ahead and finish, then…”

The man clapped his palms together and rubbed them as the dog was finally released from the grasp of the group.

“You got it, kiddo!”

He then reached out for the bottom card again.

“So, we now know what your future holds. Next, we will see what reason brings about that future.”

He flipped the card over, and Brian read it.

_The Tower…_

The card showed a tall tower being destroyed by lightning and a man falling from it. It made the canine sigh.

_Of course…_

“This card predicts a great calamity on the horizon…”

The music on the piano slowed down as Vern went on.

“Secrets enshroud you, Brian, and one day, those secrets are going to catch up to you.”

At this, Brian tilted his head, intrigue flooding into his expression.

_Secrets?_

If this was real...could those secrets be the answer to all the mysteries about his mother? His mind began to race with the possibility, causing him to pay hardly any attention as the man explained further.

“Revelation is at hand, my boy, and when that day finally comes, the point of no return will have truly been reached. Your fate will forever be sealed, your path set in stone as you allow your past to forever dictate your future from that point onwards. If there is to be any hope, you will be wise to change course immediately upon learning these harsh truths. Say goodbye to your mother, and move on from anything having to do with her. Your naivete, your curiosity, is sure to be your ultimate downfall otherwise. If you do not do this and continue on your set path, each choice you make will only make it more and more difficult for you to escape as you fall further in step with fate’s design. It is a seemingly impossible thing for a man to carve out his own destiny away from that path, but all it takes is one simple deviation to break free. The cards say you will not achieve this, but it is at this point when you will have the best chance to reassert control. Otherwise, you will lose that control forever as you slip into the footsteps of those that came before you.”

This entire time, Brian had been lost in thought as he pondered the possibility of finally receiving the answers he so desperately craved, and it was the song of The Oracles that finally managed to snap him back to the present moment. 

**_THE FLAME IS GONE THE FIRE REMAINS_ **

He jumped, refocusing his attention on Vern just in time to see the man flip over the final card positioned at the peak of his arrangement.

It was another reversed card that Brian had to strain to read.

_King of Swords…_

Just a king sitting on his throne with his sword pointed down towards the ground.

Simple enough.

Vern placed both of his palms on the box and looked up at Brian, a blank expression on his face as he spoke.

“And now we come to the card that represents your potential, Brian.”

The music sped up again, this time faster than ever as the man began to interpret the final card.

“Your demons have been revealed, and they have pulled you into a life that was never meant for you to possess. Taking on this role will give rise to an opportunity, a tempting notion that will bring about the future previously spoken of.”

The music seemed to speed up even more, and Brian felt like his heart was following suit as he continued to listen.

“You will be thrust into a position of power, and despite having the best of intentions, that power will corrupt you. The more you seek salvation, the more you will fall, becoming the very thing you set out to destroy. You will attempt to save your people, but you will only damn them further than they already have been. You want to be the conqueror of sin, but you will do nothing but give in to it time after time.”

The tone in the melody fell lower, and Brian felt his heart stop. It was almost like he could feel his mother watching, shaking her head as she listened to this vision of him becoming something...evil…

_“I wanted you to be better, dear…”_

“You want to use this false life to right all the wrongs that came before you by any means necessary, and this goal reveals something truly dark in you, something you cannot control when ambition strikes. One compromise leads to another, and soon, you find that you’ve become something monstrous that uses good intentions to justify heinous actions. The new you takes on its full shape, a silver tongue filled with lies that bathe sour words with gold and a manipulative mind that carries those words to action. You’ve drifted too far, becoming someone who no longer bears any resemblance to that humble child who lived in solitude with his mother by the lake, a smooth and charismatic individual. You are reborn a devil in disguise.”

At the mention of being compared to The Devil, the source of all the evil his mother had ever warned him about, Brian couldn’t help but start to breathe heavily as the reading went on.

“The road to Hell is paved with good intentions, Brian, but upon gaining a position of influence, you grow to also love the recognition and fame. After years of going unnoticed and feeling overlooked, you finally have the respect you desire. You bask in the people’s love and adoration, but be wary for there is one individual who does not share in this affection. He watches you in shadow, revealing himself just in time to cut you down when you feel you are at your most unstoppable. Out of the warnings spoken to you this night, heed this warning most of all, dear child. You may be in Hell, but you are not, in fact, The Devil, and The Devil....”

_No…_

...is watching your every move.”

“No!”

Brian brought both of his clenched paws down hard onto the box, causing all the cards to fly up into the air and land in a big mess all around the area. His breathing had become erratic, the intense music in the background not aiding matters as he tried to process the very idea of what he had just been told.

His mother had warned him of evil, and he didn’t want to believe that the very evil she had warned him about could ever hold so much influence over him. How could that ever be true? How could he ever betray his mother like that!? The idea that The Devil himself could have control of his life…

It shocked him to the very core of his being.

**_THE FLAME IS GONE THE FIRE REMAINS_ **

As he remained sitting there in shock, the group of men began to disperse, leaving only Vern to sit with him while he began gathering up all the cards Brian had so carelessly scattered. The man said nothing more to him as Brian was left on his own to process everything that had just happened. It almost seemed cruel to the dog that anyone should say such things about him. He didn’t want to believe any of it.

He REFUSED to believe any of it.

_That’s not me, mom… They don’t know me._

Moisture formed in his eyes and he fell forward, his head laying on the box as he whispered those words to himself.

“That’s not me... That will never be me…”

The cards had been gathered, so Vern got up to leave, as well. Brian didn’t have the strength to move just yet, though, so he continued sitting there, ears focusing on the music that had slowly transitioned back to the jaunty tune he remembered first hearing. He closed his eyes and tried his best to relax as he listened to the music.

_It can’t be true. You can’t predict the future._

And what kind of life was it to live actually believing every event in your life was set in stone? Brian didn’t want that. He hadn’t left home so confidently just so he could have some stranger come along and try to bring him back down again.

No. There was something more going on here, but it had nothing to do with fortune telling or magic. He had to believe that. Which meant these men needed to be viewed as nothing more than nuisances if he wasn’t going to fall right back into despair.

And yet…

He still felt more frightened than he had been before being forced onto this train. What if...there was something to their warnings? Could he really afford to ignore them? He didn’t want to just turn around and go back home, though. That outcome seemed just about as miserable as the future they had predicted for him! So, if there was truth to any of it, what point was there in even going on to begin with!? The only chance he had at being truly happy after his mother’s death was for The Oracles to be wrong, to have lied to him.

Because he couldn’t go back.

He wouldn’t…

At least that much was clear in his mind as he tried to piece it back together after the whirlwind of emotions from his reading had gone and scattered it so successfully. He wiped his eyes and breathed in deep.

_I can’t believe them…_

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the train car door sliding open. He felt the rush of wind, and it was enough to pull him out of his own head as he turned around to see Vern opening the door. Once the door was fully open, revealing that night had fallen on the day, the man turned to Brian and smiled at him.

“Figured we could all use a little fresh air. Leaving things in the dark is good for the atmosphere, but we’ve said all we need to say. The rest is up to you, kid.”

He winked at the dog and walked over to sit with the rest of the men on the opposite side of the car. As soon Vern joined them, the man Vern had said was Johnny finally brought the music he was playing to a close. He shut the lid of the piano but did not move to stand up, keeping his back to everyone as he sat there unmoving. Brian watched the now silent group for a while before deciding that they must have actually been done with him.

There was simply nothing left to be said.

He then looked over to the open door of the train car and began to crawl over to it, coming to rest at the edge where he took a seat. He watched as the landscape rushed by. The beauty of the scenery was enough to ease his troubled mind, and he allowed a small smile to form on his lips as he looked up at the moon in the clear night sky. He wondered when he would arrive in Quahog, if that was indeed even where this train was going. It wasn’t clear how much he should believe the men he had just spent an evening with. He was just ready to be off this train and with other normal people who wouldn’t spend all their time talking about how hopeless his situation was.

He didn’t need any more of that.

The canine sighed, and then, he spoke out into the night, whispering so that the men behind him did not hear his words.

“They listened to me. I told them everything. I’m not sure how much it helped, though…”

This wasn’t how he had imagined his first meeting with other intelligent people going, not at all, but he had to believe that there were better people out there. People who would actually care and try to help him move on from what had happened back home. His smile fell as the pain of his loss hit him again.

_I really hope I’m doing the right thing, mom…_

He really wished she could have been here to guide him. He was still so uncertain about this whole thing, but he was going to press on. He deserved to know what was out there.

Who was out there…

Because there was one thing brought up in his reading that Brian really hoped was true.

_Another…_

And that’s what the dog decided to focus on as he continued to sit there gazing up into the dark, endless sky and pondering what his future may actually hold.

* * *

How much truth can be found in the words of The Oracles? Well, that soon will be made very clear. For now, just know that The Delphi Express will indeed be stopping in Quahog. Brian will lie down to rest on the train and wake up to the sounds of bells ringing. He will wake up alone, no sign of the men he had spent the night with to be found. Not even the piano. The whole thing will feel like nothing more than a crazy dream, and he will decide to put it all behind him as he gathers his things and chooses to get off of the train in Quahog, the sights and sounds of the city dazzling and overwhelming him as he wanders aimlessly about the streets

But there is not much to tell about Brian’s first day spent in Quahog.

Not yet.

We will catch up to the excited canine later, but right now, it’s time to see what is going on with another crucial player in this story, an incredibly intelligent infant who is also waking up to the sound of bells ringing.

A boy who holds a dangerous secret.

This child does not wake up alone, though. 

No, for Stewart Gilligan Griffin, that is a very rare occurrence. On this morning, just like many other mornings, he is awakening next to a strange man in his bed. The man’s snoring is obnoxious, and the boy has to wonder how he ever managed to sleep through it when just the bells of the church were enough to cause him to arise out of slumber. He looks over at this man and eyes him curiously.

What had his name even been?

He honestly couldn’t remember if that piece of information had ever really come up during their time spent together last night in his room here at The Dime, but it wasn’t like it really mattered, anyway. This man hadn’t gotten to hear his real name, either. Sure he’d gotten to hear _a_ name, the name he used with most of his clients who were seeking the companionship of a pretty lady for the night, but the fact of the matter was, hardly anyone knew the real him.

All they knew was their object of desire.

Ms. Leading.

They didn’t know his name.

They didn’t know his gender.

They didn’t know his age.

And, for the most part, Stewie liked it that way.

A smirk appeared on the infant’s lips as he finally sat up, the continuous ringing of the bells spurring him into action. He couldn’t just lie around in bed all day. No, he had places to be, things to do. It may have been technically his day off, but his employer always liked to make sure he attended the weekly sermons. So, the baby stretched and adjusted the wig on his head before hopping out of the bed, not wasting any more time as he quickly picked out his outfit for the day. He'd deal with the man in his bed soon enough, but right now, he needed to hurry up if he was going to get ready for church in time.

The Sunday service was beginning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lyrics for The Oracles on the Delphi Express:
> 
> Stick with us, throw your morals out the door.  
> You aren’t in the land of The River and The Lake anymore.  
> Makeshift schemes, we’ve got plenty here for you.  
> Lock away your dreams and throw away the key.
> 
> You’ve been stuck in the middle of patience and animosity.  
> With a lust for solidity, and a cryptic history your luck’s running thin.
> 
> Crimson hands, brandish wounds which masquerade.  
> If you flee from grace your souls cannot be saved.  
> Big steam ships, exits illustrate the flaw.  
> Don’t be ashamed of your amour faux pas.  
> When the bombs go off you’ll know right where you are.
> 
> You’ve been stuck in the middle of patience and animosity.  
> With a lust for solidity, and a cryptic history your luck’s running thin.


	5. The Church and the Dime

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one where The Flame has a secret.

Long, brunnete wig.

Diamond stud earrings.

Dark eyeshadow, eyeliner, and mascara.

A touch of blush.

Bright red lipstick.

A matching body-hugging, mid-length dress. Lovely. Exposed a bit of leg. 

A rosary.

White elbow length gloves

Black pumps.

Everything a young boy needed to pass for a mature, if short, desirable woman.

By the time Stewie had finished getting ready for the day, the man in his bed had yet to wake up. The child sat in the chair next to the vanity mirror that was located across from the foot of his bed and glared at the unwanted company. He was just like all the others.

They were malleable, their lives being driven by the very man they put their faith in, the man who was so very eager to steer them into depravity and ruin.

And that’s just how it was. He’d provided his service. The payment had been made. There was simply no need for this sad sack to be in here with him anymore, and he couldn’t wait around for this pathetic excuse of a man to wake up and stumble out. He certainly wasn’t going to leave him in here alone, either.

The baby groaned and then held his hands up before clapping them loudly and speaking up in a high-pitched voice he used to disguise his normal one.

“Hey! Wake up! You had your fun! More time costs extra!”

It seemed to be enough to break through his unwanted companion’s slumber. The man in the bed was soon mumbling something, incoherent babble while his eyelids slowly peeled back revealing bloodshot orbs that Stewie had come to recognize as possible signs of a hangover. This guy had gotten pretty smashed last night, had seemed to be a bit of a lightweight, too, so Stewie wouldn’t have been surprised if he was suffering from the morning after repercussions of indulging in too much alcohol.

_ Just great… _

Not that he cared about whether or not this guy was suffering or not, but he didn’t want this to turn into a task more troublesome than it was worth. Luckily for him, the guy began to sit up. He reached towards the ceiling and gave a big stretch, moaning obscenely as his eyes caught Stewie’s glare. He smirked and threw back the comforter before turning his average at best naked body so that his feet were hanging off the edge of the bed, his focus never leaving the person sitting across from him as he spoke through a hoarse, dry throat.

“Was it as good for you as it was for me?”

The boy wanted to scoff and roll his eyes, but that kind of behavior towards paying customers was pretty frowned upon here. So, he summoned up the strength needed to force a smile onto his face as he batted his eyes at the man and spoke to him with a voice so sweet he could practically taste syrup at the corners of his red-coated mouth.

“I sure hope not, sweetheart. It’s sort of my job to be exceptional at that sort of thing. Wouldn’t want someone even as handsome as yourself showing me up at my own profession.”

The man laughed, not quite understanding the sarcastic undertones of the boy’s comment as he quickly gathered up his clothes and began to get himself presentable enough to head out the door. The entire time Stewie just sat there watching him carefully, making sure that this man didn’t suddenly try to get too comfortable in this little home the baby had made for himself in this building for many. As soon as the man was finally dressed, the child motioned towards the door, smile still on his face as he ushered him out.

“Come again soon, and remember, you can always find what you need here at The Dime!”

The man nodded and then moved to leave but not before stopping next to Stewie and leaning down to plant a smooch on the infant’s lips that ended up lasting much longer than the child would have wanted. He endured it, though, eyes remaining open, body completely stiff and unaffected until the man had gotten what he wanted and finally pulled away. He shot the boy a wink and kissed the air.

“I’ll definitely be seeing you again, Ms. Leading.”

_ Oh, joy… _

But the boy just smiled and waved the man off as he finally exited the room. His grin didn’t fall into a scowl until after he was long gone.

“What an unpleasant piece of human filth.”

He then turned back to check his appearance in the mirror. His lipstick was now smudged from where the man had kissed him so forcefully. A sigh escaped him as he grabbed a piece of tissue paper to wipe it all off so he could reapply what the man had ruined.

_ Bloody hell! I do not need all of this hassle! _

The bells had stopped now, which meant it wouldn’t be too long before his boss was finished with the morning confessions, so he hurriedly applied the red lipstick once again before checking his appearance one more time. Once he was satisfied with how he looked, he grabbed his black purse that was sitting on the table and made his way out of the room, closing the door behind him and beginning his walk down the third floor hallway.

Just another Sunday…

Just another start to another week here as the lovely Ms. Leading at everyone’s favorite place in town to unwind.

The Dime.

He couldn’t even remember how long he’d been working here now. It seemed like so long ago since he’d first come to Quahog, since he’d first set foot in the church and caught the attention of the man who was now his employer. It seemed like it was ages ago, and yet, he could still remember all the way back to that day rather vividly.

Back to where it all began.

_ The sun was setting as Stewie made his way down the sidewalk, backpack strapped tightly to his shoulders and little feet marching away as the passersby looked down on him. He could see the judgement in their eyes, and it stung. He wouldn’t let them see that he cared, but he had been in town for about a week now and he was beginning to wonder if his decision to escape his home and come here to the place of his birth had been a wise one. _

_ What had been his alternative, though? Stay with his neglectful failure of a father? His stomach turned at the thought. He hated that man. The fat man had never done anything for him. No, he was certainly better off on his own. _

_ Even if he did miss having a place to stay. _

_ To eat. _

_ Good lord, what he wouldn’t do for a proper bath, right now! _

_ He knew how he looked: dirty, tired, and ragged. He certainly felt it, so it didn’t surprise him that these people would be so judgemental. His outfit consisting of a yellow shirt with red overalls was absolutely filthy! He’d probably act the exact same way if he was in their shoes. Which he wasn’t, but one day, he intended to be. He was smart. He’d made it this far on his cunning and wit. There was no reason he had to fail. _

_ He just had to find the right opportunity… _

_ And he knew that opportunity would come. The boy’s spirit was far from broken. No, he still had full confidence in himself to make something of his life out here on his own. _

_ As for right now, though, he was making his way to what was probably the most visible building in the city. _

_ The church. _

_ He’d heard that it was a place where anyone was welcome, and if it got him off the street for a little while, he definitely wanted to seize that opportunity. He didn’t know much about religion or why people usually went to church, but the shelter was enough, for now. And, besides, weren’t religious people supposed to be...generous or something? He was sure he’d be able to work people like that to his advantage. _

_ It was just all about playing your cards right. _

_ As he approached the tall building, the child took notice of the stone sign that was etched near the stairs. _

**_St. Mary’s Church of the Immaculate Conception_ **

**_Est. 1878_ **

_ He then proceeded the rest of the way up the stairs and entered through the large doorway that led into the chapel. It had gotten pretty dark outside, but the interior of the building was even darker, the only source of light coming from several candles that had been lit at the front of the massive room. It was honestly kind of beautiful. The child couldn’t help but appreciate the stunning architecture, tall walls carved out of stone converging into a pointed ceiling. Pillars decorated with intricate designs. It was easily the most pleasing thing he’d seen since coming to Quahog. _

_ Made him feel comfortable. _

_ The rest of the room consisted of a single walkway that sat in the middle of two rows of long pews, all arranged in a semi-circle and facing a stage where a podium sat with a giant cross behind it that could be seen glowing in the candlelight. Just off to the right side of that stage was a large box with two doors on either side, something Stewie had never seen before. He wondered what that could be. _

_ Honestly, it was all much more interesting than he had anticipated, so he was almost disappointed to find the place currently empty. Maybe tomorrow he’d be able to find out more about this place. He couldn’t think about it for too much longer, though. A yawn escaped him as he stood there gawking in the dark, and soon, he found himself taking a seat on one of the many cushioned pews. It served as quite a comfy place to rest, and it didn’t take him long to relieve himself of his backpack before lying down and closing his eyes in search of the first pleasant sleep he’d had in days, his hopes and dreams for the future stirring with faint optimism in his heart. _

He still had those hopes and dreams, but in order to obtain them, he had to numb himself and go cold like the rest of the world.

Because that’s all the world was, really. He’d seen more than enough to come to that conclusion. All you could do was keep playing your cards right, and eventually, you’d make it on top. So, that’s what he was trying to do now.

Ms. Leading was simply a means to Stewie Griffin’s end.

So, it didn’t matter what she went through.

Not really.

That’s how the boy chose to view his situation as he made his way down the stairs and to the first floor of the building. It was just another day to him, but the reality couldn’t have been further from the truth. Because the events of this day were going to change Stewie’s life forever; just like they would for the youthful white labrador that had only just recently and unknowingly entered the city of his birth like Stewie knowingly had all that time ago.

The both of them completely unaware of how their fates would soon become intertwined.

Each second bringing them closer and closer together…

For now, though, Stewie had arrived on the first floor, his pace quickening a bit as he passed by the doors of the many rooms occupied by the ladies of The Dime. This place had collected such a wide variety of talent, but he was fully aware that not everyone worked here willingly, not that it mattered what they wanted. No, if his employer decided they belonged here, that’s where they would end up one way or another. Stewie knew that. In fact, one of the rooms he was approaching now belonged to a worker, a red-headed woman with freckles on her cheeks who had been manipulated into employment here, and she had actually tried to escape not all that long ago. Needless to say, that hadn’t gone over well, but lucky for her, after some negotiations, she had managed to avoid the ultimate punishment.

Stewie could hear her familiar voice now as he drew closer. Whoever she had serviced the night before must have ponied up for another round. The boy could hear a man grunting like an animal in that room while his whore urged him on with the words he wanted to hear.

“Faster!”

Her voice was so soft, a complete betrayal of the true pain Stewie knew was lying just beneath the surface, the pain she had been so desperate to rescue herself from.

“Ah! Harder!”

The next sounds came out strained, and as Stewie passed by the room he found out the reason for this was due to the man grabbing his whore by the neck and choking her. It must have been hard for her to breath, but the child didn’t think much of it as he made his way past the silk curtain separating the hallway of rooms from the main lounging area of The Dime. The room was currently empty, but the mess from last night served as a clear indication of another successful evening of satisfied customers. There were several bottles and glasses at the various tables. Trash littered the floor. Various articles of clothing had been strewn about the stage. You could just tell that it had been the setting for a rowdy group of partiers. The baby passed through the room, dodging a few stains on the floor before entering the office found on the opposite side of the building, the pimp’s office.

He opened the hidden door that was concealed by the bookcase and walked down the stairs leading into the catacombs that connected The Dime to the church: following the path marked by the silk lined, rocky corridors and the occasional bulb of light. His breathing became more and more labored as he ventured further into the tunnel due to the thickness of the air underground. He always hated it down there, hated how suffocating it felt to be under the Earth in the dark.

Surrounded by those who were long dead…

It was enough to cause a shiver to shoot up the normally brave infant’s spine as he continued to monitor his breathing.

_ Deep breaths. _

_ In. _

_ Out. _

_ In. _

_ Out. _

He really hoped that confessions weren’t going by fast today. He knew they shouldn’t be. Plenty of attendees were going to have plenty to own up to after last night. It honestly never really ceased to impress the boy. Just how many people were trapped in that vicious cycle of Quagmire’s making? And just how did the man keep up with it all? And to think that the people of this town trusted him so completely. He was their priest, their guide, and they followed him wherever he desired. Plenty of people would pity the citizens of this wretched town if they knew the truth, but Stewie… Stewie was more impressed than anything, even if a lot of those under Quagmire’s control had made it entirely too easy to seize that control.

Because that wasn’t the case with everyone.

It certainly hadn’t been with him.

_ “Hey, kid. What are you doing here?” _

_ Stewie slowly opened his eyes, an unfamiliar voice having the audacity to interrupt his rest. He groaned and sat up on the pew, tiny hands going to rub at tired eyes before focusing on the man standing above him. The stranger was wearing a black robe with a white collar. There was also a strange necklace hanging around his neck and a thick book in his hands. The baby’s gaze wandered up to the man’s face and analyzed it just like he would with anyone else. _

_ Older gentleman but probably not elderly. _

_ Large chin. _

_ Outdated black hairdo. _

_ A pretty vague expression. _

_ Slight smile. _

_ Dark eyes. _

_ It didn’t really give the boy much to go on, but the tired child decided it was just best to answer the question as he reached up and began to stretch. _

_ “The door was open, and I needed a place to sleep.” _

_ He yawned, blinking his eyes a few times as they continued to adjust. _

_ “What of it?” _

_ The man frowned and then took a seat beside Stewie who immediately moved a few inches away in response to the action. The stranger looked back over at the child and scrunched his eyebrow in an expression that the baby knew to be curiosity. _

_ “I’ve noticed you staying the night here over the last several days. Why aren’t you sleeping at home? Where are your parents?” _

_ The boy reached over and grabbed his backpack, pulling it closer to him as he continued answering the man’s questions. _

_ “Have no home. Dad is a pitiful drunk, and mom is nowhere in the picture.” _

_ He glared at the man as he threw the backpack onto his shoulders. He didn’t intend on keeping this conversation going for much longer. He needed to get out there to see if he could scrounge up a meal for the day. _

_ It didn’t seem like this guy wanted to take a hint, though. _

_ “Ah. So am I to assume that you chose to run away from this home that did not serve you well as a home, my child?” _

_ It was the infant’s turn to raise an eyebrow as he considered the man even more carefully than before. There was something...different about this guy. He talked in a way that was unlike anyone else Stewie had ever met, and he carried himself in a way that the child had never quite seen, either. _

_ And what was it with that last thing he just said? _

_ The boy’s curiosity kept him rooted to that spot as he decided to keep this conversation going for a little longer. _

_ “Your...child…?” _

_ The man smirked and then moved in closer. _

_ The boy did not move away this time. _

_ “Of course, son. We are all God’s children, but I serve as the father to his flock so, in that sense, you are my child.” _

_ The infant nodded his head slowly. _

_ So, this was some kind of religious thing? More and more questions began to fill the baby’s head as he spoke again. _

_ “So, this place… It’s yours?” _

_ The man hummed briefly before responding. _

_ “I have been assigned the duty of looking over this place and all who attend it, yes.” _

_ He then pointed at Stewie. _

_ “And since you’ve chosen this place as your refuge during this trying time, I see it as a sign from the Lord that he has sent you here for me to look over as well.” _

_ His pointing hand unfurled, leaving his palm hanging there in proper greeting for Stewie to accept. _

_ “What’s your name, son?” _

_ The child hesitated for a moment. Was this man really offering to take care of him? And, if he was, to what extent? After days and days of having to trick people into giving him what he needed, this was the first time anyone had gone and offered him any kind of genuine assistance. _

_ And that alone was enough for the boy to realize just how badly he needed it… _

_ He was so tired of getting by on just scraps... _

_ An involuntary lump formed in his throat, but he fought it down as he reached out and took the man’s hand to shake it. _

_ “I’m...Stewie…” _

_ A hint of a smile formed on his lips. _

_ “Stewie Griffin.” _

_ The man smiled back and eagerly shook the baby’s small hand. _

_ “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Stewie. You can call me Father Quagmire.” _

_ It was right after saying that when the infant’s belly began to rumble loudly. The boy yanked his hand away and diverted his gaze in embarrassment, but this just caused Quagmire to laugh as he stood up and motioned for the child to follow him. _

_ “Come on, Stewie. Let’s get you some breakfast.” _

_ The hungry boy didn’t need to be told twice to follow his new friend to delicious sustenance. _

Smooth. Very smooth.

The man was truly a master at what he did, so as far as Stewie was concerned, he’d earned all the influence and power he had over this city.

_ Let them all fold… _

Yes, let them all give in to their darkest desires and reap the consequences of it. What did it matter to them so long as they had their beloved priest to grant them forgiveness the following day? Let them hand it all over for Quagmire to do with as he pleased.

They all deserved it.

That’s how the boy saw it, at least.

He didn’t owe a single one of them even a scrap of his sympathy. Wasn’t like they had ever done anything for him, so he found it perfectly acceptable that he was now in a position to work with the very man that held this city in the palm of his hand. It was enough to bring a smirk to the infant’s face as he made it to the end of the tunnel and emerged from it into the priest’s office.

It was quiet.

That was a good sign. No music. No booming voice echoing throughout the building. That meant he had arrived before the start of the service. He smiled and exited the office, walking briskly into the chapel before taking a seat on one of the pews up in front next to the confessional. There were still a few people waiting to go in. Some of them were men he recognized from last night, including his handsome blonde driver, Clint. Now there was a guy that Stewie could at least tolerate. The man was responsible for driving the boy to all of his appointments outside of The Dime, and he had never overstepped the bounds of that relationship.

Stewie appreciated that.

So, yeah, Clint was pretty alright, not to mention easy on the eyes.

But, just like so many others, the young adult man had been trapped in his role by the pimp he worked for. Clint didn’t want to work for Quagmire, but he still did what he had to do, just like everyone else in this building. This indeed was the place where hearts went to die. Those who sought healing were always quickly taken advantage of.

And yet they still had no idea.

Anyone who knew the truth about Quagmire was bound to silence. It was truly incredible. So many men driven to give into their basest, most carnal desires. So many women led into service as performing call girls. All right here in this  _ holy  _ building and, yet, not one free soul was even aware that the pimp and the priest were one in the same. They all just kept coming to The Dime at night to drown out the various sorrows of their miserable little lives with booze and sex.

And then, once the morning came and the guilt began to set in, Quagmire would wait alone in that confessional, playing whatever role he needed to play in order to soothe their flu ridden hearts so that they would be ready to return back to him completely free of the guilt from having given into temptation.

And round and round they all went.

To the church.

Then to The Dime.

And back to the church again.

You’d figure their god would grant them more strength than that…

He must not have cared very much.

Oh well… At least it was enough to keep Stewie amused.

The child continued sitting there in silence as he waited for all the confessions to be done. After a while, the final person emerged from the confessional with a large smile on their face before Quagmire stepped out to begin the morning service.

The services were always pretty...long, especially the one held for Sunday morning. Stewie was never able to pay full attention to them. He mostly just went through the motions, put on a good show. There was nothing going on here that held any real significance to him.

Not anymore…

But Quagmire always liked to see him attend. More than any of his other workers, Quagmire always liked to keep tabs on him, and Stewie was completely aware of why that was the case.

He was special.

Valuable.

It only made sense for the man to do everything he could to protect his asset. It was just good business. The child understood that. It wasn’t like he could do much else, anyway. He wasn’t allowed to leave The Dime unless it was for an appointment, so his time here at the church was some of the only free time he had away from that place that didn’t involve him having to service somebody else. It wasn’t much, but it was something and he knew that it wouldn’t be this way forever. And, if nothing else, the priest was pretty fantastic at engaging with his audience, a real showman. All that charm and charisma, it’s what drew everyone here in the first place.

And no one was immune to it.

Not even him.

_ The child settled into the makeshift bed that had been made up for him on the front pew. It wasn’t much, just a big blanket with an actual pillow to rest his head, but to Stewie, it was pretty much everything since he hadn’t had anything close to a proper bed to sleep on in a good long while, so he found himself sighing happily as he shut his eyes. _

_ This arrangement seemed to be working out pretty nicely. Ever since he’d met Father Quagmire, he’d had everything he needed with no struggle at all. The man was there for him, provided for him. He was a kind man, and while Stewie was always of the opinion that it didn’t pay to be too kind in this world, he could tell that the man wasn’t dumb, either. In fact, he just might have been the smartest person Stewie had ever known...besides himself, of course, and really that wasn’t saying a ton. But, the fact of the matter was that Stewie had found someone that he actually respected, at least a little. He was happy that he had wandered into this church and found Father Quagmire. _

_ It was good to have a place that somewhat felt like home. _

_ So odd that it ended up being a church of all things, though. Because Stewie, as young as he was, still never fancied himself as the religious type. No, the child prefered more...tangible answers to his inquiries about the universe and the problems it created, and at first, when Quagmire had asked him to become an official member of his congregation, he had been wary. He hesitated before coming to the conclusion that it was probably the least he could do for the man who had given him shelter and food. _

_ And, oh my god, was it just so nice to finally be able to bathe regularly again! _

_ It made him feel so much better, like an actual civilized human being rather than some animal living on the street. _

_ So, to an extent, he did owe that man after he’d done so much for him with hardly anything in return to show for it. _

_ Tomorrow was Sunday, and Father Quagmire was insisting on him taking part in the service he would be hosting. _

_ He was going to attend. _

_ He wasn’t being forced to, but Stewie was happy to do that much for the man who had practically taken him in. And, god, he was even thinking about paying attention and listening to whatever the man had to say about his god and his religion. What a concept!? He never thought he’d be doing that! But Quagmire was a smart man, and if that man saw some value in that particular system of belief...Stewie wanted to know why that was. _

_ He had to question and investigate. _

_ Why would such an exceptional individual dedicate his life to this cause? _

_ “Are you comfy? Need anything?” _

_ The boy was pulled out of his thoughts by the voice of the man he was thinking about. He opened his eyes. Quagmire was still sitting next to him after having tucked him in. The boy smiled at him and shook his head. _

_ “No, sir. I have everything I need.” _

“Do not love the world or anything in the world.”

The boy blinked, realizing he hadn’t been paying much attention as his mind wandered. The strong and confident voice of Quagmire shocked him back to reality, though, and he realized that the priest was now in the middle of his sermon.

“If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.”

Good. That meant that the service was almost over. Stewie had grown tired of sitting there, so he was ready to go. Everyone else, though?

The disguised infant took a quick glance around the room to confirm his assumption.

Yeah, they were much more into it. The man had his congregation eating right out of the palm of his hand as he preached the word of god to them, earning earnest smiles and nods of the head from pretty much everyone in the chapel.

This room was so full of hypocrisy... 

“For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.”

But, at least Quagmire owned his, and it wasn’t so much hypocrisy on The Father’s part, really. The man would tell any one of his congregates how strongly he believed in The Word of God, but anyone who actually knew Quagmire, the whole of him, knew it was all just an act. It was the performance of the century, though, and it was almost a shame that the majority of people couldn’t appreciate it to the full extent that was deserved.

“The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.”

But it had to be that way. This performance was the man’s greatest tool for building his enterprise. It was an oddly elegant contradiction. He’d reaffirm their righteous beliefs just so he could more easily lead them to go against those very same beliefs. It took a special kind of evil to make that happen.

And Quagmire was that evil.

Preaching fire and brimstone for giving into temptation by day.

And, then, luring them into a place where they could indulge those very same temptations at night.

And they always showed up. It never failed. The masses would flood The Dime as soon as the doors were open, no thoughts given to the message they had received from their priest.

Because they could always be forgiven later.

That was the reassurance that Quagmire gave them, and so long as they were assured a place in paradise, these people really didn’t care what they did or who they hurt. So, in that sense...they were really no better than the man that was controlling them. The one thing that set Quagmire apart was that he was self-aware enough to build a whole empire on the backs of all these hypocrites.

And the child commended him for that.

When the service had finally come to a close, Stewie didn’t immediately hop up from his seat. Quagmire needed to see his flock off as they went back out into the world, and Stewie knew the man would be wanting to meet with him after. So, the boy continued sitting there, waiting for everyone in the building to slowly funnel out the door.

Before long, his employer was bidding the final person farewell and then walking back up to the front of the chapel to join the infant. He looked at Stewie and motioned for the boy to follow him. The child did this without question, grabbing his purse before following after the priest, and soon, he was with the man in his office. Quagmire took a seat behind his desk, but Stewie chose to remain standing as he listened to whatever the now smiling man had to say.

“I don’t know how you do it, Leading. It’s as if you cast a spell on those poor saps! I always say to keep them coming back for more, but that is NEVER an issue for you. Wish I could say that about all my girls.”

He threw his thumb up and shot the child a wink.

“Heh. Heh. Good job!”

He then glanced around his desk before grabbing a book while Stewie continued to stand there in silence while holding his purse. There wasn’t really anything for the boy to say. He knew he did good work satisfying all of Quagmire’s seedy clientele. That wasn’t exactly news

Lucky them… Stewie hadn’t gotten any real satisfaction out of his liaisons in months. There had been a time when he’d enjoyed the sensations it provided him, gotten off on the scandalousness of it all, but after you’d slept with so many guys who, in the grand scheme of things, really didn’t matter to you personally… He didn’t really know. It all just seemed so...hollow... He felt...nothing with them. He was just numb to it now.

That was probably for the best, though...

As Quagmire flipped through the pages of his book, he continued addressing his employee.

“Of course, with a higher demand comes a need to supply, so let me just go ahead and tell you that you’re going to be VERY busy this week. Heh. 

He pointed at the book and looked at the boy.

"Got your whole schedule practically booked up through Saturday. Some clients want Leading. Others want Stewie, but I know you know the drill, either way. Give them what they want, and if there’s any trouble, let me know. We’ll deal with ‘em just like we always do.”

The child nodded and took a step forward, staring at the man with blank eyes.

“So, is that all? Because you pretty much tell me the same thing every Sunday, Glen. I know they’re dying to be with me again, and I know how to keep them coming back. I wake up, get in the car, and do my thing wherever Clint takes me before coming back to The Dime for the night and taking one lucky bastard up to my room. Wash. Rinse. Repeat. It’s literally the same thing every day. So, what does it matter if I’m a little busier this week or the next? My routine doesn’t change or anything. It means nothing to me whether I have to suck three cocks or five in a single afternoon.”

He sighed and motioned towards the bookcase.

“I’d really prefer not to waste my time. I only have so much of it to take for myself, and it’s already past noon. Nothing is going to change. I don’t need these weekly check-ins! I just want to enjoy  _ my _ afternoon and whatever I can of the evening after the Sunday night service. So…”

His stoney expression fell slightly as a small frown formed on his lips.

“Can I just head back to The Dime? Are we done?”

Quagmire’s smile fell. He eyed the boy seriously for a second before closing his book and leaning back in his chair.

“Well, actually, about that…”

He shrugged.

“I’m only going to be able to give you the afternoon today. I might be short a girl on the street, so I’m going to need you ready just in case I need you to take her place.”

Stewie felt his heart stop briefly, but his expression didn’t change at all as he continued listening to his boss whose lips were now upturning into a smirk.

“Don’t worry, though! Heh. Heh. You’ll have your usual corner. I never want you too far away from me, after all.”

There was a beat of silence before Stewie simply took a breath and nodded his head.

“Right, of course.”

He took another step towards the bookcase.

“I’ll be ready. Don’t worry about it.”

The man stood up then, continuing on as if Stewie hadn’t said anything and wasn’t on his way out of the room.

“I’ll let you know if it ends up being nothing, but we’re currently looking into a matter with your driver and his sister, and well…”

The priest chuckled sinisterly.

“If our suspicions turn out to be correct, they’re both going to have to be dealt with.”

The infant stopped in his tracks.

_ Clint…? _

He stopped walking and turned back to Quagmire, wanting to say something before deciding no words from him would matter.

So he stayed silent, leaving Quagmire to get in one more barely audible laugh before the man walked over to the bookcase and moved it, indicating that his star employee was free to go.

“Enjoy your afternoon, Ms. Leading.”

Stewie didn’t say anything else. He just hurried down and through the tunnel. There were only a few more hours left in the day before the Sunday night service, and if he ended up having to work tonight, that meant he probably only had a few more hours before he lost any chance to enjoy time for himself this week. He didn’t have time to wonder too much about what Quagmire had been referring to with something being up with Clint. Honestly, he already had an idea about that…

It was none of his concern, though. There was nothing he could do about it. People made their own choices, after all, and right now, he was choosing to ignore all of that so he could focus on just enjoying himself. The boy emerged from the office of The Dime and made his way into the lounging area. Most of the girls were out of their rooms now and all working together to clean up the mess from last night as well as get everything set up for the night ahead.

Because The Dime never took a night off, not even for the day of rest.

As the boy walked through the room and watched the women, he remembered Quagmire telling him once how this place used to serve as a home for the nuns back when there had been actual nuns in Quahog. It had fallen into disrepair years and years ago, and it had been Quagmire who invested into the renovations that had turned the building into what it was now. That hadn’t been for some time, of course, but it was kind of funny to Stewie that this place, while serving a much less religious purpose now, had basically remained a place to house the women who served their priest. Even their necks were marked with the same cross that was surely worn by the righteous women who came before them.

The boy scoffed as he walked by them.

Quagmire truly did corrupt everything he touched.

_ Stewie sat in Quagmire’s office perusing the books on the shelves while the man read through some documents. The shelves were mostly full of religious texts, nothing the child was all too thrilled at the prospect of reading. He got enough of that from the man who had been taking care of him over the last several weeks. What he really wished was on this shelf was some kind of encyclopedia that he could use to read about other parts of the world. Shit. He’d even settle for a science textbook. Things had just gotten kind of stale around here. He basically spent all of his time at the church because Quagmire was always insisting that he not wander off too far. It was overprotective behavior. Stewie knew that, but he didn’t want to risk angering the only person who had been kind to him since arriving in Quahog. _

_ Maybe he could convince Father Quagmire to take him to the library that supposedly wasn’t too far from here… _

_ As soon as he had the thought, though, one of the books finally caught his eye. It was a large tome simply titled  _ **_Renaissance Art_ ** _. The young boy pulled it from the shelf and took a seat on the floor. He opened it and began to examine all the images of the various art pieces. _

_ They were extraordinary, brilliant… _

_ Genius. _

_ The book was enough to keep him content while Quagmire did whatever he had to do, and he didn’t look up from it until the both of them heard the sound of someone knocking on the door. The pair looked up at the door as Quagmire called to whoever was announcing their presence. _

_ “Come on in.” _

_ The door opened to reveal a broad-shouldered, middle-aged man with slicked-back black hair. He was wearing jeans and a tan button up that Stewie couldn’t help but notice was open at the top, exposing the man’s chest just enough to attract interest. The boy stared for a moment longer before realizing what he was doing. He averted his gaze and tried refocusing his attention on his book as the two men began talking. _

_ “Mr. Usher needs his cut, Glen.” _

_ Mr. Usher… _

_ Stewie had heard that name a few times now, but he had yet to inquire about who it was exactly or why Father Quagmire was associated with him. Whoever it was, it wasn’t someone Quagmire liked to talk about too much. That could be heard clearly in his annoyed tone of voice whenever the subject of this mysterious man did come up, a tone he was sure he was about to hear right now. _

_ And he was right. _

_ The priest sighed before standing up from his seat. _

_ “He’s a little early this week, don’t you think?” _

_ The two men walked past Stewie who then turned around just in time to see their visitor shrugging. _

_ “Not my call, man. I just go when the guy sends me, and I don’t ask questions.” _

_ Another sigh could be heard from Quagmire as he removed a painting that was hanging on the back wall of the room to reveal his hidden safe. The man said nothing more as he entered in the combination on the dial and opened the safe before retrieving an envelope. He handed the envelope to the man with the black hair and then promptly closed the safe and rehung his painting before turning around and motioning towards the door with a stern look in his eyes. _

_ “Well, there it is. You can go now.” _

_ The visitor held up his hands in defense as he began stepping backwards. _

_ “Hey, come on now, Glen. Don’t get all irritated at me. I’m just doing my job.” _

_ Quagmire just continued to stare the man down as he kept stepping away. Stewie realized the man walking backwards was getting awfully close to stepping on him, so he quickly scrambled out of the way. The priest must have noticed this, too, because, before Stewie had even gotten himself and his book fully out of the man’s path, the priest was already shouting. _

_ “Hey! What the hell are you doing!? Are you trying to run over the kid!?” _

_ The man stopped and turned around, his gaze moving down towards the floor and eyes locking with those of the child who was staring up at him. A look of genuine shock filled his expression. _

_ “Oh! My bad! I didn’t see you down there, kid.” _

_ Stewie knew that normally he would have told such an inconsiderate and clumsy person to fuck right off, no matter if they would listen to him or not, but for this guy...he was having a hard time finding any words to say at all. It was odd. He actually found himself caring about what this guy thought of him, worrying about the kind of impression he was making. _

_ The hair on this guy’s chest was thick. _

_ Stewie wondered how it felt to the touch. _

_ The man’s shocked expression shifted into a smile as he kneeled down to talk to Stewie at eye level. _

_ The boy could feel his heart pounding in his chest as their faces were now closer, his eyes focusing in on the man’s lips as he spoke again. _

_ “Awwww. Don’t be shy, little guy. I don’t bite.” _

_ Stewie gulped as he thought about what a shame that was. _

_ What was wrong with him? _

_ “Ok. That’s enough. I need you out of here. You’re making him uncomfortable. Don’t you see that?” _

_ The man looked away from Stewie and back at Quagmire, his eyes rolling as he stood up. _

_ “Sorry, pal. Just got a soft spot for cute kids. I’m going now. Don’t worry.” _

_ Cute… _

_ Stewie felt his face heating up. He turned around and faced the wall, not wanting anyone to see him as he listened to the man walking out of the room and shutting the door. He remained standing there for a good while longer before he felt the presence of Quagmire coming to stand behind him. _

_ “Sure was funny how you were looking at him…” _

_ The child’s body went tense, refusing to turn around as the man continued to talk to him. _

_ “Eh. Can’t really say I’m surprised, though. I’ve been noticing it in your eyes for a while now, and I gotta say, it’s pretty weird.” _

_ A laugh could be heard unlike any kind of laugh he had heard from the man before. That combined with the use of that one word… _

_ Weird. _

_ Stewie licked his lips and began opening and closing his palms as an uncomfortable sensation that had, up until now, been unfamiliar to him began to take hold. _

_ “But...I guess it makes sense that a boy as advanced as yourself would start to become...curious...at an earlier than normal age.” _

_ At this, Stewie finally turned around and looked up at the man, his face awash with several emotions he was having a hard time processing as he spoke. _

_ “C-Curious…?” _

_ Quagmire smiled at the boy and took a seat down on the floor while nodding his head. _

_ “Yes, Stewie, curious. You’re young, but you’re already starting to experience thoughts and feelings that most people don’t experience until they are much older than you are.” _

_ In a way, Stewie knew what Father Quagmire meant. It wasn’t even really a recent thing, either. He hadn’t been alive long. He knew that, but even with that in mind, for as long as he could remember, he could recall certain...individuals catching his eye. It wasn’t something he really had any time to pay much attention to, at first, but now that he was living a happier and more comfortable existence, he’d started to pay attention to these...feelings more. _

_ He just thought he was doing a pretty good job of hiding them. _

_ Apparently not… _

_ He didn’t know what to say. For a moment the two of them were completely silent before Quagmire spoke up again, reaching for the book on the floor and opening it as he did so. _

_ “It’s ok, my child. It’s really nothing to feel bad about. Desiring intimacy with another is just a natural part of the human experience.” _

_ He stopped on a page with a painting titled  _ **_Adam and Eve_ ** _. He then turned the book so that Stewie could see the painting as he went on. _

_ “Tell me, Stewie. Do they both make you feel the way that man did?” _

_ The painting being presented to the child was simply that of a man and a woman, both in the nude. The infant looked at the image, examined both figures within it. _

_ The woman...was just a woman. It did nothing to him. _

_ But the man… _

_ The man sparked something within the child, his eyes going wide as he examined the masculine form in all its glory. The sight of it made his whole body feel warm. _

_ Caused strange...reactions… _

_ He was afraid to admit this to Quagmire, though. A silly thing to be sure. The man obviously already knew what was going on here, but despite being told that these feelings were nothing to be ashamed of, Stewie couldn’t help but wonder if this was some kind of trap. _

_ Wasn’t it a sin to feel such things for the same sex? _

_ Hadn’t he heard that preached to him in this very church? _

_ By this very man…? _

_ What was the catch here? _

_ Eventually, the boy realized that this wasn’t something he was going to be able to hide, so he simply shook his head as he finally responded. _

_ “N-No… It...only happens when I’m around guys...never girls…” _

_ A smirk appeared on the priest’s face as he nodded his head and closed the book. _

_ “I understand.” _

_ Stewie watched him carefully as he then stood up and walked over to his desk. He opened the top drawer and pulled out a necklace before turning back to the boy. _

_ “I’ve been meaning to give you this.” _

_ He knelt down and handed the baby a beaded necklace bearing a cross and an image of a woman. It was the same kind of necklace he always saw Father Quagmire wearing around his neck. The child looked at it, not understanding why he was being given this just now. _

_ It was a pretty necklace, though, so he reached out and took it, inspecting it closer as he asked about it. _

_ “What is it, Father Quagmire?” _

_ The boy was surprised to see that it was actually small enough for him. _

_ “They call it a rosary, my child.” _

_ Stewie smiled and put it around his neck. _

_ “And it will serve as indication of the one you now serve.” _

Stewie made his way to the third floor and back up to his room before closing and locking the door. He then tossed his purse to the side before retrieving a book that he had convinced one of his clients to buy for him during one of his evening outings, practically leaping into his bed to begin devouring the text held within its binding. He didn’t have many options for what to do with his spare time here at The Dime, but reading had quickly become a favorite past-time. He dabbled in fiction, but what he really enjoyed were the works of a biographical nature, stories of great men and women who had come before him and left their mark on the world.

He hoped to one day join their ranks within the chronicles of history.

All in time.

For now, he just had to wait...and dream. He was currently reading about a man who had been named Oliver Sacks. He had stumbled upon one of the man’s many books a good while ago and had been utterly fascinated by his unique and ingenious mind ever since. He’d since read everything he could get his hands on from the man, and he had been overjoyed to stumble upon this biography.

**And How Are You, Dr. Sacks?: A Biographical Memoir of Oliver Sacks**

Contained within were many stories that he was already familiar with from the other books he had read, but this provided more details about the man’s life from an outsider’s perspective. He was well into the book, by now. It was just such a compelling read! The man had led such a fascinating- and, at times, tragic- life.

The words in this book made Stewie feel something.

And that was hard to come by at this point in the young boy’s life.

He spent the rest of his afternoon alone and in his room with his book. It was the perfect escape from it all.

So, it was only just that much more disappointing when, after only a few hours, he heard a loud knock coming from his door just as he was approaching the end of the novel.

He looked up at the door, groan escaping him as he contemplated ignoring the interruption, but when the knock came once again, even louder than before, the child knew that he had no choice but to answer it. He reluctantly closed his book and returned it to its safe spot under his bed before going to the door and unlocking it. The door came flying open before he’d even had a chance to open it himself, revealing Quagmire standing there in the coat he used to hide his priestly attire as well as one of the many masks that he wore whenever he was in The Dime.

This time he was hiding behind the face of a smiling pig.

“Come with me.”

It was an order barked out in a deep voice reserved only for when Quagmire had taken on his role as the pimp, and Stewie knew he had to obey as the man turned and led him down the hallway and back down to the first floor. When they arrived in the main area of The Dime, Stewie noticed that the place was now cleaned and prepared for the night. All of the workers had departed the space, too.

Except for one…

It was the red-headed woman Stewie had seen being choked that morning.

The one who had tried to escape…

There were also three men in the room, but Stewie recognized them all as enforcers who worked for the pimp. The look on that woman’s face… She was terrified, fist clutching the rosary around her neck as she cried in the corner beside two men who appeared to be guarding her. The other man was standing off to the side near the hallway that led to the pimp’s office.

Stewie allowed his lips to turn downward just slightly. He had a pretty good idea about what was going on here.

Quagmire took him back behind the bar and picked up a phone that was connected back there. He handed it to Stewie and spoke through his mask bluntly.

“Call. Your driver.”

Stewie’s lips fell just a bit more. He definitely knew what was going on. He had no choice but to comply, though. He couldn’t allow this to become his problem. He’d worked too hard to let things fall apart now. So, he dialed the number and listened to the phone ring, trying to keep his expression blank as he waited for his loyal chauffeur to answer.

He didn’t have to wait long.

“Hello?”

The boy had to clear his throat in order to force himself to sound normal as he spoke to the man.

“Ah, yes, Clint?”

There was a moment of hesitation before the man responded.

“Oh! Leading? Is that you?”

Quagmire continued to loom over the boy as the conversation went on. Stewie nodded his head despite the man not being able to see it.

“Yes. It’s me. Listen, I need you to come a little early tonight. I was looking through my jewelry, and it seems I’ve misplaced one of my earrings. I’m hoping it might have fallen off in your car or something, so I’d like to look before it gets too much later, if you don’t mind.”

Silence fell again as the baby awaited an answer to his request. After a few seconds he got it.

“Uhhhhhh… Sure. Ok. Just give me a minute. I’ll be right over. Do you want me to look for it first, though, or…”

The child shook his head, cutting the man off as he replied.

“No. No. That won’t be necessary. It’s quite small and, forgive me for saying this, but I don’t exactly trust a man to know what to look for.”

The infant laughed, surprising himself with how casual and humored he was able to make himself sound as he led this man to his inevitable fate. It must have worked, though, because the man’s next words were now devoid of any apprehension he might have previously had as he chuckled into the receiver.

“Ok. Ok. I understand. I’ll meet you outside The Dime.”

Stewie smiled a false smile.

He’d done his part in this.

“Thank you, Clint.”

He looked up at Quagmire, and his smile fell.

“See you soon.”

He ended the call there and handed the phone back to the pimp who hung it up before ushering Stewie out from behind the bar. He walked over to one of the tables next to where the woman was and pulled out a chair for Stewie before sitting down in the chair next to it, his attention going to one of the men as he motioned with his head towards the front door.

“He’ll be here soon. Grab him when he arrives and meet us down in the catacombs.”

The man nodded and proceeded out of The Dime to wait on Clint. In the meantime, Quagmire was now turning his attention to the frightened woman sitting a few feet away from him. He spoke calmly, not a trace of emotion to be found in that chilling voice of his.

“I told you what would happen if you defied me again. Tell me, will it be worth it in the end, Dolores?”

The woman didn’t say anything for a long time. She just sat there, silent tears running down her face as the pimp continued to stare at her, his gaze unrelenting while Stewie was left to become a silent observer to what was to come. Minutes ticked by, and eventually, Quagmire let out an exasperated sigh as he spoke to the woman again.

“You don’t have to talk to me. That’s fine, but we both know what is about to happen. And we both  _ also  _ know that it’s all your fault.”

At this, the woman’s sadness was briefly masked by her rage as she yanked the rosary off of her neck and threw it into the face of the man who was tormenting her.

“I never asked for any of this! He was just trying to help me! He’s my brother! Why wouldn’t he!?”

Quagmire remained sitting, unflinching, completely unphased as he leaned over to retrieve the rosary and place it into his pocket. He then looked back at the woman and continued to speak to her just as calmly as before.

“It was greed that brought you here, Dolores, and it will be your greed that ends your brother's life.”

He then stood up and addressed the other man who had been standing there.

“That’s enough of this. Take her down into the catacombs.”

“NOOOOOOO!!!!!”

The woman thrashed and screamed as the bulky man picked her up and began to carry her out of the room. As they left, the last remaining enforcer then walked up to Quagmire, his hand on a pistol that Stewie just now realized had been holstered to his hip.

“You gonna want this done quickly, sir? Or will I need to go get my tools so we can make an example of him?”

As the pimp seemed to ponder over his response, Stewie continued to sit there, expression blank but heart pounding. He knew the horrible things that Quagmire sometimes felt he had to do, he’d even seen a couple of them.

...but he had never actually known any of the victims...not like he sort of knew Clint. The feeling in his chest wasn’t really sadness, though. He wasn’t close to the man, and he didn’t feel like he would actually miss him once he was gone.

What was that feeling, then?

He just couldn’t put his finger on it.

“We don’t have time to make it slow. I have a service to host soon, so as much as I want to use him as an example, it just won’t be possible.”

The pimp stood up and placed his chair back under the table.

“I do want to talk to him, but after that, we’ll make it quick and dispose of him in the usual spot.”

The man nodded and then turned to head down into the catacombs without another word. Quagmire motioned for Stewie to get up as he followed after him. The child obeyed and followed suit without question, but he had to wonder why he still had to be involved in this at all.

So, he asked about it.

“Why do you need me here, Glen? Why not just let me go back up to my room? I...don’t want to waste my last hour before service tonight.”

The man continued walking, entering his office as he answered without even looking at the boy.

“It’s best that you not get distracted anymore today. By the time you got comfortable and relaxed, you’d already have to leave again. So, what’s the point? Free time is over.”

They began walking down into the dark tunnels.

“The time for work is now.”

Stewie wanted to argue the point, but he knew it would only serve to irritate his employer.

And that was something best to be avoided. He knew that was about to be made very clear.

They didn’t follow the path to the church, the path marked with hanging fabric. Instead, they turned down another tunnel in the labyrinthine passageway, and they followed it all the way to a dead end where a chain had been secured to the wall. Dolores had been secured to that chain by a clasp around her neck, and she knelt there, head hanging and body shaking as she waited for what was to come. There was only a single light in this part of the tunnels, and it only illuminated the area enough so that you could just barely see what was going on. Quagmire’s enforcers were down here, too. One of them stationed beside the woman while the man with the gun stood leaning against a wall off to the side. Nobody said a thing as the group stood there waiting for the last remaining enforcer to arrive with the doomed man.

Stewie’s heart continued to pound uncomfortably in his chest as he stood there in the dark, eventually increasing in both speed and intensity when he heard a man shouting from somewhere down the tunnel.

“Stop! Let me go, you asshole! You’ll pay for this! You’ll all pay for this!”

The shouts continued, growing louder and louder as the person speaking was dragged further into the catacombs. The man with the gun stood up and walked over to Quagmire.

“One shot to the head?”

Stewie gulped as Quagmire answered with a firm nod.

“One shot to the head...after I talk to him.”

“I’LL KILL EVERY ONE OF YOU FOR WHAT YOU DID TO MY SISTER!!!”

The woman began to cry again, head finally lifting as she looked out into the darkness where her brother would soon emerge.

“CLIIIIIIINT!!!!”

As if the man had been summoned by some mystical force, Clint and the man who was dragging him along the ground then appeared out of the darkness. Stewie, Quagmire, and the enforcer all took steps back so that the pair could get past them. Clint noticed Stewie, and immediately the intensity in his voice died down.

“L-Leading…?”

Stewie looked at the man who was now being tossed over by his sister. The child said nothing. His face showed nothing. The man with the gun and Quagmire then walked over to where Clint had landed as the two remaining enforcers went to stand by Stewie, effectively blocking off the exit. All the while, Clint just kept staring at the disguised infant who was being forced to watch all of this.

“W-Why…? I would have taken you with us! I wanted to take you with us!”

A mocking chuckle could be heard coming from behind Quagmire’s mask then as he glowered at the man lying down by his weeping sister in the dirt.

“She would have never gone with you. If anything, if by some miracle you had managed to keep us from finding out about your plan, she would have come directly to me.”

The boy pondered this assumption. If Clint had offered him an escape, would he have taken it? It didn’t take him long to come to a conclusion.

No.

He was wasn’t stupid enough to go back on any kind of deal he’d made with the devil.

And he would have told Quagmire the truth...for his own sake. After all he’d been through, he wasn’t about to render all of that meaningless just to help some pitiful man who couldn’t accept defeat.

It was all about playing your cards right.

And Clint had gone and dealt himself a losing hand even after he’d already folded once before. The dummy should have stayed out of the game.

Some people were just stubborn, though.

So here they were, the man staring at him with glassy eyes, foolishly hoping that the words Quagmire had spoken weren’t true.

“No… I don’t-”

“I told you she was one of the worst of them!”

The cry had come from Dolores. Stewie looked at her and saw that the woman was now staring daggers at him.

“She’s the one who led you here! All she cares about is herself!”

The child frowned. He refused to feel guilty about any of this.

_ Don’t put this on me, you miserable creature. _

The voice of Quagmire broke in again, this time louder than before.

“Because she understands why you DON’T go back on your word to me!”

He reached down and forcefully pulled the woman up by her hair as he continued to speak harshly to her.

“I hired you to do a job! You agreed to the terms of that job so that you and your idiot brother over here could eat! And, then, you tried to weasel out of the agreement by running away! Do you know how generous I’ve been in spite of this!? Do you even understand what usually happens to workers who try and go against me!?”

The woman flinched away, tears streaming down her face anew as she closed her eyes against the violent barrage of words. Quagmire threw her back down to the ground as he redirected his tirade towards the brother.

“And you! I tried to make a deal with you, too, Clint! You BEGGED me to spare your sister, and I showed you both mercy! My only condition was that you start working for me, too, as Ms. Leading’s driver! A job doesn’t get much simpler than that! I wasn’t asking for much! All you both had to do was keep your word to me, but no, that was just too much for you.”

Stewie stood there like a statue, listening as the volume of the pimp’s voice lowered and watching as the man’s hand went up to point to the gun on his enforcer’s hip. The man with the gun nodded and removed the gun from his holster as Quagmire went on.

“So now I have no choice but to do something about this. This insubordination simply cannot continue to be tolerated. You knew what the risks were for trying to outplay me, so the time has come to reap those consequences.”

Clint leapt up from his spot on the ground.

“DON’T YOU HURT HER!”

The crazed man attempted to tackle the pimp to the ground, but he was swiftly sent flying back with a hard kick from the enforcer at Quagmire’s side. The enraged man was left to crumple up in the corner, wheezing as he tried to recover the air that had been knocked out of him.

Quagmire simply sighed before he spoke his final words to the man.

“I’m not going to hurt her. I’m going to use you to show her what will happen if she tries anything like this again.”

The pimp then looked at his enforcer.

“Do it.”

Dolores tried to jump in the way but the chain held her back as she screamed.

“NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!”

And then her cries were silenced by a loud gunshot, the flash from it briefly filling the space with a bright white light before the sound echoed down the tunnels.

Stewie’s eyes went wide, but then he winced at the sound, his ears starting to ring due to the loud noise going off in the confined space. The ringing went on as he watched Clint’s body go limp.

A large hole in his forehead...

...blood and brain matter now splattered on the ground and the wall with bits of skull scattered about as well...

His life snuffed out...just like that…

Stewie took a breath to compose himself.

It wasn’t his fault.

These people were responsible for their own fates.

_ Don’t put this on me. _

As the ringing began to subside, it was soon replaced by the wails of the woman who had collapsed into the dirt. The ground muffled her voice as she vented all of her sadness and anger into the cold earth who could neither hear her nor care. Quagmire’s enforcer was already gathering up the body, grabbing Clint’s husk by the feet as he began dragging him away from the group. Quagmire then kneeled down to speak to Dolores one final time.

“I’m going to let my men unlock you now. You’re going to go up to your room, clean yourself up, and put on a great big smile for the men who will be arriving in my establishment in just a few hours. Understand?”

He didn’t wait for an answer before standing back up and walking over to Stewie and the two men that were still standing beside him.

“Come, Ms. Leading.”

The child did as he was told while the man delivered one last order to his enforcers.

“Keep an eye on her. I don’t want her out of your sight for the rest of the night.”

The two men nodded and then went to free Dolores from the chain. Stewie and Quagmire proceeded down the tunnel, soon catching up to the man who was disposing of Clint’s body. Quagmire looked down at Stewie as he walked.

“Go with him in case he needs any help. He’ll bring you back here in time for the service. I want you on your regular corner as soon as the congregates have departed.”

Stewie didn’t say anything, but the order was made clear. Quagmire then walked ahead of him and said something to his enforcer before picking up his pace and disappearing into the darkness. The child picked up his pace, as well, ignoring Clint’s corpse, walking quickly past it to take his place by the side of the man who was dragging it. The man turned down a path which Stewie had never walked before, and soon looked down at the person he assumed was a little lady and smiled a smile that was much too sweet for a man who was currently disposing of a dead body.

“Pleased to meet you, Ms. Leading. We’ve never been formally introduced, so my name is Henry, in case you didn’t know.”

Stewie looked up for a moment, almost forgetting to use his disguised voice before speaking to the man.

“Oh… Henry. No, I did not know that was your name. ...Pleased...to meet you.”

The man laughed, his head turning to look forward as he spoke again.

“I know it’s a lot, but it’ll be over soon. This tunnel leads out to an alley a few blocks from The Dime. My car is there. We’ll just load this poor bastard up and take him to the river. You won’t have to lift a finger, but the boss wants you to tag along.”

Stewie sighed.

“What Quagmire wants, Quagmire gets.”

The man hummed in agreement.

“Ain’t that the truth.”

After that, no more words were exchanged between the pair for the remainder of their time together. Stewie followed him all the way to the end of the tunnel, watched as he hoisted Clint’s body up onto his shoulder and climbed up a ladder that had been fixed to the stone wall at the end of the pathway. He followed the man up the ladder, through a manhole, and out of the tunnel. The light of the setting sun blinded him for a moment as Henry replaced the manhole cover, and by the time Stewie’s eyes had started to adjust to the sudden change in lighting, Clint’s body had already been loaded up into the trunk of a red car. Henry was now waving him over towards the passenger side, holding the door open for him.

Like a gentleman…

Like Clint used to do…

_ Why did you have to be such a moron, Clint? _

The disguised infant just shook his head as he walked over to the car and hopped into the passenger seat, and just like that, they were off in traffic with the rest of society, Stewie’s mind starting to wander as he looked out of the window.

_ “Hey, kid. What are you doing here?” _

It didn’t take them long to get to the river. Henry parked in a secluded area, and Stewie just watched on as the man hopped out of the car to finish the deed.

_ “Need anything?” _

He watched as the body was tossed into the river. He watched as the current took it away while Henry returned to the vehicle.

_ “It’s ok, my child. It’s really nothing to feel bad about.” _

And he continued to sit there in silence as the man drove him back to the church.

_ “I need to go away for a few days, but don’t worry, I know someone who can look after you while I’m gone.” _

By the time they arrived, the sky had begun to darken. The masses were already entering the building with Quagmire standing there at the door to usher them inside with a warm greeting. Stewie dusted off his dress and checked his appearance before exiting the vehicle without giving Henry even a passing glance. As he made his way up the stairs, his mind was still stuck on all that had just happened as the cheery voice of the priest resonated in his ears from on high.

“Welcome! Welcome, my child! It’s good to see you again!”

_ Welcome indeed... _

The boy made it to the top of the stairs and met the man’s eyes. Quagmire noticed him, and his demeanor shifted slightly as his smile momentarily became a smirk.

“Welcome...my child…”

Stewie smiled back as he was expected to do.

“Thank you, Father.”

And, then, he made his way through the chapel and to his usual seat on the front row.

Even after the service had begun, Stewie found it hard to focus on anything that was currently happening. He kept seeing Clint and the man's sister. Kept seeing Quagmire in his pig mask looming over them, their fates held entirely in his hands. It was such a stark contrast to the jovial man who was now on stage and smiling as if nothing had even happened.

He’d just killed a man...and now he was speaking to hundreds of people about the evils of sin as if it were nothing.

And it was nothing.

Stewie knew that. Quagmire was a man of many faces, but none of them ever bore genuine empathy. It was all just business to him.

He was a pimp.

He was a priest.

And he played both roles to utter perfection.

This had all just been another prime example of that, possibly the greatest Stewie had yet to experience. It wasn’t like he needed this lesson, though. He could still remember how kind and caring this man had initially seemed to him. Stewie wasn’t one to put trust in anyone, but Quagmire had still managed to actually earn that trust for a time.

And now he was here.

_ “Who is this man, Father Quagmire?” _

“Amen!”

The boy snapped back to the present moment just in time to realize he had zoned out for the entirety of the service. Quagmire was making his way back to the door as everyone in attendance began to stand and exit the building. Stewie remained seated, though. He waited for the crowd to disperse before finally standing up and making his way out of the building. The priest was still standing outside as he passed through the large doors, and he spoke to the infant as Stewie began to walk down the stairs.

“Have a good night, Ms. Leading!”

The boy stopped in his tracks and turned around, forcing a smile onto his face as he waved to the man.

“You do the same, Father Quagmire!”

The man laughed and then re-entered the building before closing the doors, leaving Stewie outside in the dark of the night, alone. The child stood there for a moment longer before proceeding down the rest of the stairs and down the block a ways, taking his place on the corner and under a streetlamp that had only just recently flickered into life. He was still entirely focused on his thoughts regarding Quagmire and his latest victims, but he knew he had to pull himself together and get to work. His boss wouldn’t like it if he didn’t bring at least one person to The Dime with him tonight, and he had to keep doing what he could to ensure his own success in this business.

Because he had to succeed.

What was this all for otherwise?

He felt like he should feel bad for Clint and Dolores, just more victims ushered into Quagmire’s world of secrets through schemes and manipulation, but he just didn’t have it in him to feel much of anything anymore.

He hadn’t for some time, and not even this was going to change that. So, screw the dead, and screw the damned. He would not be joining them. They’d played their hand, and they’d lost. That had nothing to do with him, and he couldn’t let that hold him back.

And that was that.

The boy spent almost an hour scanning the streets for any potential clients. They were pretty barren, right now, but he knew that someone would come along, eventually. They always did.

In fact…

Just then, the child saw something white a few blocks down from where he was standing, and after focusing his attention on the strange sight he realized it was a short, white, bipedal dog wandering about the area and carrying a bag. It was a dog that Stewie could not recall ever seeing around town, and from the looks of it, it appeared he might be a new arrival to this cozy little land of Quahog, due to how the canine didn’t appear to know at all where he was going. He was just...looking at everything, walking from one side of the street to the next as he drew closer to where the boy was standing.

"Interesting…"

A curious animal?

Lost and all alone?

The infant smirked. It didn’t get much easier than this.

“Excuse me! Sir!?”

The dog looked over in his direction.

And their eyes met as destiny came to pass...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lyrics for The Church and the Dime:
> 
> She prayed to the man with the twin in the mask, but the world is numb and cold.  
> And the boy all alone, casually wandering home,  
> Unaware of sobering reality.
> 
> Faster. Save me. Harder. I can’t…
> 
> (Breathe in, breathe out.)  
> Let them all fold, let them all fold.  
> (Breathe in, breathe out.)  
> Let them all fold, let them all fold.
> 
> Hearts finish here, love decays while call girls perform.  
> He waits alone, playing roles to soothe lovers flu.
> 
> The lust and the sighs, The Church and The Dime.  
> The cryptic clientele all careening inside.  
> The puzzling facade steers pure from the divine.
> 
> (Breathe in, breathe out.)  
> Let them all fold, let them all fold.  
> (Breathe in, breathe out.)  
> Let them all fold, let them all fold.
> 
> Many wishes of hunger were wronged  
> By the pimp and priest’s thirst for a fault,  
> All the anger from a lover’s lament  
> Force fed in the stomach of sin.
> 
> Welcome to the world.


	6. The Bitter Suite I and II: Meeting Ms. Leading and Through the Dime

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one where The Fire and The Flame meet.

Bittersweet.

Sweet with a bitter aftertaste.

A mixture of joy and sorrow.

Even the happiest of memories can become bittersweet if, while the events those memories are composed of were actually happening, one didn't have a full understanding of them and their context. For Brian, the next few events in his life are going to seem like the happiest moments he’s yet to experience. All will seem right as he meets the one he will come to believe is the leading lady in his life's story, and for a while, he will continue believing in the happiness that is soon to come from that meeting. He will seemingly have no reason not to. After all, why wouldn’t this poor, lost soul latch onto what he perceives as his first chance at true and pure connection and happiness after experiencing such loss and suffering? But, no matter how much sense things may make to the dog right now, Brian can not escape one crucial fact about the coming future.

His perfect happiness will not last for long.

For, once the truth of these events is laid bare, Brian will realize what was really about to happen the moment he laid eyes on the alluring figure calling to him in the night from down the street. When the truth finally makes itself known, he will reluctantly have to grapple with the deception that was at play and the implications of that deception.

This is simply inevitable...

But, for now, this naive animal has no reason not to embrace the joy and the wonder that he is about to experience. Always keep in mind, though, that this dear hound is indeed about to create some very bittersweet memories for his future self to look back on, as is the child who is at present calling to him with the intentions of luring his prey into a situation he has no way of being prepared for. They both lack the full context needed to make the proper judgements right now, and this is something they will both have to look back on and experience mixed feelings toward in the not-too-distant future.

The good and the bad.

The comfort and the pain…

...

But, still…

Just because a life experience turns out to be bittersweet in hindsight…

That does not mean that experience necessarily has to become something one needs to regret.

But only time will tell whether or not Brian and Stewie will live to regret the decisions they are about to make on this night.

Or whether they will be able to discover good fortune in an otherwise twisted situation.

Those answers can only be discovered somewhere down the line from here with the passing of time.

So...let’s see how the next chapter in this story goes as Brian begins his journey of discovering the meaning of, and all things regarding Ms. Leading.

* * *

Brian stopped in his tracks as he gazed at the short silhouette that he had heard singing out into the night. Had that voice really been meant for him? It would come as a surprise considering that, even with it being almost a full day since he’d arrived in town, he had yet to have anyone voluntarily strike up conversation with him. He had tried asking questions to a few people, but for the most part, he had gone ignored all day. He looked around the street and found that he and this figure were the only two individuals in sight.

So, they must have been talking to him.

But why…?

He looked back at the person, his eyebrow rising slightly as he wondered what they could want. Who were they? The voice had sounded like a woman’s, and as he looked at the shapely form standing by the light down the street, he figured it did look like a woman’s figure.

A beautiful woman, at that…

Not that he had a ton to go on, but he had seen pictures of human women and had come across quite a few of them in person for the first time today. There had always been something...appealing about them to the canine, but he had yet to speak to any females...except for his mother…

What did she want?

Was she smiling at him?

It was hard to tell in the dark, but he was sure he could make out a sweet, inviting smile on that expression, and he could see that this woman was also waving at him as she continued to call out.

“Hey, handsome! You seem lost! Looking for a good time!?”

_ H-Handsome…? _

It was a compliment Brian had never had the pleasure of receiving before. He gulped, the grip on the dog’s bag tightening as he felt something in his chest do similarly. He only hesitated for a moment, though, before finally strolling over to where this mysterious silhouette was standing. He couldn’t help it, couldn’t even explain it. Something about this person...he was drawn to their presence. For some reason, they seemed to want him over there, and he was happy to oblige, despite also feeling more nervous than he could remember ever being in his entire life. He needed to see what she wanted.

As he got closer, he was able to better make out the woman’s appearance. Soon he was merely a few feet away and able to fully see just who had called him over.

His eyes went wide.

_ Oh, wow... _

And it was as if time itself stopped for the two of them in that moment as he took in the full sight of this beautiful creature.

His jaw must have fallen, but he wasn’t aware of anything going on with himself as he gawked at this being who was at about his height and so perfectly framed by the light from above. He’d never seen anything like her. That smile he had detected was still there, a slight upturn of the lips that stopped him dead in place. It...excited him. He saw a fire in that smile, a warmth that reminded him of basking in the Summer sun back at home. Those two large, gorgeous blue eyes were entirely focused on him, penetrating through him. There was a confidence and intelligence in those eyes that seemed almost otherworldly, and Brian felt like they were peering into his very being as they looked over him meticulously. What were they seeking? Were they finding it?

He hoped so…

He didn’t want to lose her attention.

Because she certainly had his.

His eyes followed her every movement.

She was amazing…

Her brown hair that cascaded down past bare shoulders seemed like it would be pleasant to the touch.

Her incredible red dress complemented her figure so well and made her appear to be something conjured up right out of the beauty of nature, like a red rose that one yearned to pluck from the bush.

Her skin...it was pristine like the first snowfall of Winter.

The dog just took it all in, figuring he’d take note of every detail about her since she seemed to be doing the same with him.

Black shoes.

Shimmering jewels in her ears.

Full lips.

A necklace that she was clutching to her chest as her other hand rested on her hip.

…

_ Wait… _

He took another step closer, eyes now completely focused on the obscured object hanging around her neck. Those beads...he’d seen them before. It couldn’t be, though…

“You’re, uh, not much of a talker, huh?”

Brian blinked, his attention going back to the woman’s face as he tried to think of what to say. He didn’t think of anything fast enough, though. Before he could say anything, she had already shifted her position, hand moving to uncover the necklace as she leaned in towards him and snapped her fingers in his face.

The dog gasped.

_ H-How… _

It was his mother’s necklace…

“Come on, Fido. Speak for me, boy. What’s the matter? Cat got your tongue?”

She laughed, but Brian wasn’t sure what was so funny. It wasn’t like he could focus on a joke, right now, anyway. That necklace… What were the odds of him seeing it again on the first person who’d spoken to him…

Was this...a sign?

Her smile fell then as she sighed at him.

“Listen. I don’t have all night here. Should I just move on to someone else or what?”

Brian blinked again, forcing his attention away from the significant piece of jewelry as he realized that his lack of anything to say was starting to irritate the woman next to him. He didn’t want that, so he finally forced himself to speak after clearing his throat.

“O-Oh, s-sorry. I wasn’t… I wasn’t trying to be rude. It’s just that…”

He felt heat in his cheeks as a paw went up to scratch behind his neck.

“You’re, like…”

A nervous chuckle escaped him as he was once again unable to find the proper words to express what he wanted. So, he settled on something simple and to the point.

“...just...wow.”

The woman eyed him seriously for a moment before eventually smiling again, a hand going to her chest as she responded.

“Awwwww! Well, aren’t you sweet!”

She took a step towards him, and Brian found himself actually taking a step back in response due to how incredibly shy he was feeling now that he’d finally allowed himself to speak. He felt foolish about it instantly. The last thing he wanted to do was run away, after all, but he was also so worried about doing or saying the wrong thing in front of her. It was unlike any fear he’d ever experienced. He didn’t...want to embarrass himself.

What was he supposed to do? This was all so new to him.

As he pondered these things, the woman laughed again.

“It’s ok, boy. I don’t bite. You don’t have to be shy around me.”

The canine took a breath.

She really could see everything with those eyes…

She could see him.

It took a decent amount of courage on his part, but the canine forced himself to step back up to her, bringing them closer together than they had been before. He still felt incredibly nervous, but why would he retreat from someone as amazing as she seemed to be? No, he couldn’t mess this up. He tried to think of something else to say to keep this interaction going smoothly, but before he could, the alluring female was already extending an arm out towards him, her hand reaching out for him to accept as she spoke again.

“So, are you going to come with me?”

Those eyes… He just couldn’t pull his gaze away from them…

Where were they going, though?

It suddenly dawned on him that he still had no idea why this woman had called him over here in the first place, and now, she was asking him to go somewhere with her?

He just...didn’t understand. It gave him pause, but he knew what he wanted to do. And the more he thought it over, the more right it seemed. Something about this woman was special, and he wanted to know her better. She made him feel things that were new and exciting.

She wore his mother’s necklace.

_ It...has to mean something. _

He had no idea what he would be getting himself into by taking that inviting, gloved hand, but despite still feeling wary over the situation, he knew he’d regret it if he were left to wonder what could have been.

His answer to her question was clear as he smiled at the woman and slowly placed his free paw into her waiting hand.

“Yes.”

Her hand closed tightly around his paw, and he could feel his heart starting to beat rapidly at the contact. He’d never felt human hands before, and to feel the sensation of having this beautiful flower clutching him so firmly...so securely, it sent his heart racing. He was so distracted by this lovely contact that he didn’t notice the woman staring down at the paw that was now being cradled by both of her hands, an eyebrow going up as she noticed something about Brian’s paw that the dog had chosen to try and forget about days ago.

“Sir…? What happened to your hands?”

Upon hearing the question, the dog looked down at his paw, as well, and for a moment, he recalled touching his mother’s blood-soaked corpse. He shuddered violently, turning to look away while he took a few breaths to calm down, offering up only a single vague response.

“Something...I regret…”

He shook his head, fighting back the memories before looking back at the woman. She was now eyeing him with an entirely new expression, one of obvious curiosity. He was worried that she would ask him more questions. He hoped that she wouldn’t.

He didn’t want to think about...that...right now.

But, even still, he remained standing there, waiting to see what she would do next. Eventually, her expression softened as she nodded her head and smiled at him.

“I guess we all have our regrets, don’t we?”

She let out an airy giggle then, and the musicality of the sound was enough to bring a grin to the distressed canine’s face as he laughed in return. He folded his paw over into her hand and squeezed it firmly, offering her the same feeling of security that she was providing for him in that moment.

Her giggling stopped as he heard a sudden gasp escape her. He didn’t know what to make of it, but it didn’t sound like something he should be alarmed by. She didn’t seem frightened. He knew he would be able to see it in her eyes if she was. No, there was no trace of distress in those lovely pools. Instead, that curiosity had returned, but he had to imagine she was wondering about something else entirely now as they just stood there gazing at each other, the only sound coming from the audible breathing she was now doing.

He listened to that sound.

He hung onto her every breath.

Her red lips twitched like she was about to say something, but then, they immediately shut, hiding her tongue and suppressing whatever it might have been.

Brian didn’t care, though. It was like they had become frozen in this magical moment together, and he didn’t want it to be interrupted anytime soon. So, it was actually disappointing to the dog when the woman finally turned away from him and began to lead him down the sidewalk while she addressed him again.

“Come on. I know where we can have some fun together.”

Brian followed after her, still having no idea what they were going to be doing.

_ Fun? _

Most of the fun he’d ever experienced came from the books he enjoyed reading or his own writing hobby. He knew of a few games that he used to play outside and around the house, too, but he had no idea exactly what this woman had in mind when she mentioned  _ fun _ .

Fun…

It seemed like such a...weird term to be using in this moment, almost too light of one.

He was willing to follow her anywhere, at this point, though, even to the ends of the Earth if it meant he got to follow behind and watch her skip along so elegantly.

It was beautiful, like some kind of new dance he was getting to bear witness to for the first time. That was something else he used to do for fun. He used to dance with…

And now he had the pleasure of watching this wonderful woman glide across the ground with the grace of a butterfly flying through the air as she carried him wherever she pleased.

He smiled warmly at her as he watched.

_ I just want to stay with you… _

His brain tried to conjure up her name to complete the thought, but he realized that, during this whole whirlwind of events, he had neglected to ask this woman what her name even was. It caused his heart to stop for a moment as he wondered if that had made him seem ruder than he intended. Regardless of whether she even cared, he couldn’t spend another minute not knowing who this amazing person was. He spoke to her as they continued to walk.

“What’s your name?”

The woman ceased her stride and turned her focus back to him. There was a moment of hesitation that had Brian worrying if maybe he shouldn’t have asked his question in the first place, but then she winked at him while giving him the answer he wanted.

“Ms. Leading. You can just call me Leading, though.”

The canine breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing that she did not appear to be irritated by his behavior. He chuckled awkwardly before giving her a firm nod of his head.

“Right. Leading. Understood.”

Ms. Leading tilted her head at him as a hand went to her hip.

“Well, since we’re exchanging names, what’s yours, then?”

Brian answered immediately.

“I’m Brian...ma’am.”

Yet another anxious laugh bubbled out of him, and he almost yanked his paw away from her as he felt the urge to scratch his neck again with the paw that wasn't holding his bag at his side. The woman rolled her eyes at him.

“Ma’am? My word, you must be really tired or tense or both. No wonder you’re acting so strangely.”

She pulled on him, indicating that she was going to start walking again as she continued speaking.

“We’ll take care of that, though. Don’t you worry. We’ll get you a drink, and then, once you’re good and relaxed, I’ll take you up to my room so you can…”

He heard her laugh again, but this time, there was something in the laugh that he couldn’t quite understand. She was speaking again before he could think much of it, though.

“...rest with me in my bed.”

His heart skipped.

_ Her...bed…? _

She looked over her shoulder at him as they turned a corner, a smirk on her lips while she inquired of him breathily.

“How does that sound? Is that something you would enjoy, Brian? Do you want to spend the night with me in my room?”

His tail started to wag as he replied with wide and intrigued eyes.

“Y-Yes…”

He was tired...and weary of everything he had been through over the last several days, so, of course, the idea of spending a relaxing night with Ms. Leading sounded like some sort of Heaven to him. He couldn’t wait to get to wherever they were going.

Luckily, he didn’t have to wait long. Ms. Leading came to her final stop only a little while later, her free hand motioning towards a building to his left.

“Well, here we are, handsome.”

Brian looked over at the building. It didn't look like anything too special, a pretty average brick structure between two others, no windows on the front. He looked up and saw a silver, circle sign hanging above the red double doors that led inside.

**The Dime**

**Est. 1878**

As he stood there with his eyes focused on the sign, Ms. Leading skipped up to the doors, one of her tiny hands reaching up to take the handle as she called him over.

“Let’s head on inside, then! Come on, boy!”

She whistled in his direction, causing Brian to snap his attention back over to her. She smiled at him and pouted.

“You wouldn’t keep a poor girl waiting, would you?”

The dog shook his head rapidly.

_ Never… Not you… _

And so he followed after her. Ms. Leading led the way, opening the doors and ushering the naive animal inside the very building his mother had rescued him from all that time ago. If Brian had only known the truth, he would have avoided that place at any and all costs and not been swayed by the insincere kindness of his temptress, but as the circumstances had dictated, he had no way of knowing the truth of the matter. Right now, this place and the woman who was leading him to it seemed like a refuge from his torment, so he happily strolled inside, completely unaware of the eventual consequences for blissfully and ignorantly trusting this seemingly sweet woman who bore the mark of his mother.

Ms. Leading watched him with a smirk. It’s hard to know for sure if she would have been heartless enough to continue leading the poor animal astray if she had known what was really happening in that moment, but all that matters is that she didn’t know. How could she? How was she to know that the necklace which marked her was the very one that marked the canine’s now deceased mother? How would she have ever put together that her cross and kind gestures had attracted Brian for reasons that were entirely different from the ones her clients usually had? So, in that sense, they were both naive, even as Ms. Leading figured she had the upper-hand in this situation. Her intentions were still far from pure, after all. She had a job to do, and maybe that alone is enough for one to consider her heartless during all of this.

In the end, it simply does not matter. The damage was already done as she smugly followed her latest client into The Dime.

But now…

Brian stopped after taking only a couple of steps inside. The first thing he took notice of was the sound of piano music that put him a bit on edge. There was no piano in sight, though. What he could see was a large room full of round tables and chairs that currently only had a few men occupying the space. They had drinking glasses and were sipping on liquids of various shades of brown that didn’t look too terribly appealing to the animal. The walls were lined with some kind of darkly colored fabric, and in the back of the room along the right wall, he could see the largest table of all. It was accompanied by a row of stools, and there was a balding man with a white shirt standing behind it, a wall of bottles behind him. The only other thing of note was one last area where the floor was raised higher than everywhere else, making a large “T” shape that stretched out into the center of the room. The canine just stood there, observing the whole location carefully, ears still listening to that piano. The more he listened, the more he found that he was able to enjoy the melody and relax. There was nothing...off-putting about it, really.

No, it was actually a pretty laidback sound that tempted him to loosen up as he continued making his way inside. 

Ms. Leading eventually came to walk ahead of him and began to lead him over to the table near the man by the bottles. Brian continued looking around, and noticed that, despite there only being a few men there, they all seemed to be getting along and having a good time.

The place was hopping.

_ Huh. This place actually does seem pretty nice. _

He grinned widely as he took a seat next to his guide, setting his bag down on the table as he did so. Ms. Leading slapped her palm on the table and called over to the man who was a few feet down from them.

“Hey, Horace! Got some new blood over here!”

She then looked over at the dog and nodded towards the bottles on the walls.

“Drink of choice, darling? First timers are treated for free here.”

Brian stared at her, completely confused by what she had just said. The man approached them and set down a drinking glass that he had just been cleaning. After a few seconds, Ms. Leading just frowned at the dog before looking over at the man.

“Ok. He’s pretty out of it, so how about you keep it simple?”

The man nodded and grabbed one of the bottles before pouring the brown liquid contained within into the glass. Once the glass was full, he slid it over to Brian who only just barely reacted in time to catch it. The man set the bottle back where he had gotten it, mumbling something as he did so.

“Can never go wrong with the Jack.”

_ Who the heck is Jack? _

Brian blinked, still beyond confused as he stared down at the unappealing-looking drink he had been offered. The first thing that came to mind as he looked at it was dirty water, but then, when he sniffed at it, he found the strong smell to be quite a turn-off, as well, his face scrunching up in response.

_ Yuck... _

“Well?”

He cleared off the disgusted expression and looked up at the woman who was still frowning at him.

“Not going to turn down a free drink, are you?”

In truth, he did not want to ingest whatever this stuff was, but...he also didn’t want to disappoint her. So, he forced a smile as he picked up the glass.

“N-No… Of course not.”

He then brought the glass up to his lips and took a big swig of his drink, his eyes immediately going wide as he felt a burning sensation hit his throat along with a taste that he in no way found gratifying or refreshing. He set the glass back down and began to cough loudly for several seconds. Ms. Leading started to giggle beside him before resting a hand on his back and rubbing the area soothingly.

“Yeesh. Trying to chug your liquor isn’t going to impress me or anything. You really need to take it easy.”

The canine coughed a few more times before nodding his head. Once his coughing fit subsided, he looked back at the atrocious substance that had caused him such unpleasantness.

And, then…

He felt that burning sensation start to ease into a more tolerable warming sensation that traveled downward and settled comfortably into his chest, and that was a feeling that he actually found rather pleasant.

Comfortable…

_ Oh? _

The awful taste still lingered on his tongue, but this new warm feeling intrigued him. So, he picked his glass back up and took another, much smaller sip. This time the burning was less intense, but that feeling of having his body warmed up from the inside out persisted and grew. The taste was even more tolerable this time, allowing him to hold the liquid in his mouth longer before swallowing and sighing in contentment.

_ This…isn’t all that bad. _

His smile returned, and he continued to carefully sip at his glass, not wanting to lose that feeling as Ms. Leading began speaking to him again.

“There we go! Take it at your own pace. Trust me, there are no judgements around here.”

She laughed and leaned forward, elbows coming to rest on the table while she placed her chin into her palms.

“So, what brings you into Quahog, Brian?”

The dog swallowed another sip of the liquid and allowed himself to lean casually against the table, as well, turning to respond to her.

“I...needed a change in scenery.”

The woman hummed thoughtfully.

“Hmmmm. Ok. Vague, but I guess we all feel that way at times.”

There was a brief pause before she said more.

“You coming from home, then? Or...is traveling something you do a lot of?”

Brian shook his head and took another sip before replying.

“Never traveled before. Just...had to get away from home.”

Ms. Leading looked at him with that curious look he had seen a couple of times when they had met outside, eventually moving her eyes to look off to the side as she uttered something quietly.

“Shame…”

They continued talking, Brian doing his best to answer the woman’s questions without diving into too many specifics. After some time, he’d finished his drink and was very pleased when the man who had served him was there to immediately refill it. While all this was happening, the building was slowly starting to become more and more crowded, men of all shapes and sizes making their way into The Dime. It was enough to make the dog a little nervous as the mass of bodies grew more dense around him, but there was a strange feeling in his head now that made it difficult for him to worry too much. On the whole, he was comfortable there with Ms. Leading, and he had no intention of leaving this spot so long as she remained in that seat.

He didn’t want to stop drinking this substance that made him feel so...relaxed, either…

So, he stayed there, engaging in casual and simple conversation with this woman who had captured his interest so completely while he embraced all the relaxing sensations in his body that were growing stronger by the minute.

Then, he heard the music in the room begin to slow down as the lights darkened all around him. The canine looked up at the ceiling.

_ Huh? _

And that was when he heard a deep, loud voice make its presence known all throughout the room.

“Check check. Can everyone hear me?”

The dog whirled his head around, almost falling off his stool as he looked around the room for wherever that voice had come from, his eyes eventually landing on a strange figure dressed in all black and standing in the center of the room on the raised floor…

...with the...face of...a pig…?

...a smiling pig…?

It looked like something right out of the myths he used to read as a kid, something that immediately made Brian feel very uneasy.

The pig continued after the crowd of men had shouted out that they could hear him.

“Good. Good. As always, it’s wonderful to see my little establishment so packed, especially on a Sunday night! You are some brave men, let me tell you.”

Everyone in the room laughed except for Brian who didn’t understand just what was so funny.

“All joking aside, I really do hope you all had a fantastic Sunday, and I also hope that tonight will serve as the perfect end to your day of rest as we all look ahead towards the week to come. I see all our regulars out in the crowd! But I also see plenty of new blood out there, too, so some of you will have to show them how we do things around here as we kick things off with one of our most popular numbers.”

The men cheered for a prolonged period of time before the pig finally raised a hand to silence them.

“So, let’s not waste anymore time!”

A bright light came on, shining directly onto the mysterious figure before moving to the back of the room where a curtain was hanging. The pig turned around and looked towards where the light shone.

“Without further ado, presenting the very lovely ladies of…”

A pause.

“...The Dime!”

The music in the room picked up tempo again, this time joined by percussion and other instruments that Brian couldn’t quite place all while the curtain slowly parted to reveal a line of, as far as Brian could tell, attractive women who were all wearing skimpy dresses of various bright colors. They smiled at the men and waved before strutting out in time with the music. The dog found that he couldn’t help but to bop his head along with the tune, eyes completely focused on the intriguing show. The women eventually came to a stop, dividing into two rows, one on either side of the raised floor. They continued to dance, bodies moving and hips swaying to the rhythm all while the men in the room smiled back and ogled them.

The music then died down for a moment, so Brian turned to Ms. Leading to see how she was reacting to all of this.

To his great dismay, he found that she was no longer sitting beside him.

_ Huh!? _

He began looking all around the room, but the dense crowd made it difficult to spot someone of her height. Luckily, he soon saw her up there with the rest of the women. She was looking right at him, blowing him a kiss before turning away and disappearing into the arrangement of women. He set his glass down.

“Wait! Leading!”

And grabbed his bag before hopping off of his stool just as he saw the pig point to the crowd. They all began shouting out in song just as the music grew louder once more.

“STEP! RIGHT! IN!”

The dog jumped, the shouts of the crowd enough to intimidate him as he then heard the pig begin to sing while Brian was left to stumble through the group of swaying men.

“Let her hips guide your desiiiiiire!”

The room was so dark, and all these people stood so much taller than him. He couldn’t even see what was going on in the center of the room anymore, just a dense mass of bodies as a chorus of female voices hit his ears, the pig’s voice looming just beneath the surface.

“Hey, hey, kid. Hey, kid, get a job.”

One of the men bumped into him, sending Brian flying into a chair.

“Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, kid, get a job.”

The dog grabbed the chair to stabilize himself before standing back up and clumsily steering his way further into the pack of excited gentlemen. One of them was speaking to another.

“Can you keep a secret?”

But Brian ignored the conversation as he looked up and saw the light that was shining down from up above. He knew if he followed that, he should be able to find Ms. Leading. The crowd shouted out again as he forced his way through them.

“THEY! HAVE! WAYS!”

Brian stuck to his straight path and pushed passed everyone until he had arrived at the edge of the raised floor where the women were dancing. He looked around but he saw no sign of Ms. Leading anywhere.

_ Come on! I know I saw her up there! _

He turned his eyes and saw the pig up at the front, dancing energetically as he continued to croon.

“To satisfy, to satisfy what you requiiiiire!”

Suddenly, the canine felt a hand on his face and a voice in his ear.

“Touch, taste, feel.”

He turned and noticed one of the women, a red-headed lady with freckles on her cheeks, had knelt down to touch him, her eyes full and suggestive as she licked her lips and stroked his snout. The dog recoiled away.

“Ahhh!”

Her bold actions made him feel...uncomfortable...confused… The woman just smiled maniacally at him, though, standing back up to sing the rest of her part with the other girls.

“Two times, The Dime.”

He had to find Ms. Leading…

The pig sang again while the canine began making his way around the space where the girls were performing.

“But the perks are more than priiiiiiice, and the guarantee is cleeeaaaaan.”

Brian heard a man cry out from somewhere in the back of the room.

“They’re all clean!”

His brow rose at the strange comment.

_ Odd thing to point out, but good for them, I guess… _

And, then, everyone in the room except for him seemed to sing out the next words in the song, as if they were in on something that he wasn’t.

“We know what the men all waaaant!”

This was all happening so fast. It felt like he had arrived in this place mere moments ago, but all these new sights and sounds were already almost overwhelming. He was almost afraid to see what else fate had in store for him tonight, but he also knew he needed to be with the very woman who had brought him here. So, Brian continued on his way, his eyes eventually spotting a familiar red dress on the other side of the raised floor, the figure in it standing between two other women. He began sprinting immediately as the pig chimed in again.

“And they know it isn’t free.”

That voice was clearer than ever as he ran by the person who was up there front and center, barely concentrating on those deep vocals as the singing continued.

“Her hiiiiiistoryyyy is left beeeehiii-iiind.”

At last, he’d found her! The canine stopped, taking a place right in front of Ms. Leading as she danced to the music. His tail began to wag, and he could hear himself beginning to pant as he watched her eagerly.

“The iiiiignoraaaance has rooooom to breeaaathe.”

She looked down and noticed him, a cocky smile appearing on her lips as she waved to someone that must have been standing behind the dog, but Brian was too transfixed by her every movement to turn around and see who it might have been. It didn’t matter. He couldn’t take his eyes off of this perfect specimen of femininity.

“They plaaaaaay a paaaaart, and aaact a sceeene.”

She danced up to him and leaned down, Brian standing up on the tips of his feet to meet her before he heard her whispering in his ear.

“Having a good time, handsome?”

His head had already been swimming slightly, but the sound of her voice and feeling of her breath so close made him feel like he was liable to collapse. His whole body shuddered, and he fought to remain standing upright. He felt dizzy, but he was too caught up in what this woman was doing to him to care.

It was intoxicating.

The dog smiled at her and nodded his head enthusiastically. 

He saw her giggle, but the lovely sound was drowned out by the pig’s passionate singing.

“The prehhh-judiiice, the guiilllltyyy!”

Ms. Leading placed a hand on his shoulder then touched her lips to his nose briefly. The canine was sure that he felt his heart stop for several seconds when she whispered to him again.

“Good. It’s about to get even better.”

The vital organ was soon pounding relentlessly in his chest again once he felt a chair slide up and hit the back of his legs, causing him to fall down into the seat suddenly as the crowd of men yelled out again.

“TAKE! A! CHAIR!”

The shocked animal’s head whipped around to see if he was being attacked or something, but there didn’t seem to be any cause for alarm. His eyes soon returned to what Ms. Leading was doing on stage. She was smirking at him, still dancing while her finger was pointing over at the pig, who was also moving to the music. The creature sang out once more.

“You’re not alonnnne, the bed’s your hohhh-me tonight!”

The girls jumped in for their part just as Brian felt the chair he was sitting in start to move quickly across the floor.

“Hey, hey, kid. Hey, kid, get a job.”

The dog looked back and saw one of the patrons of the building pushing him through the group.

_ What’s going on!? _

“Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, kid, get a job.”

The chair came to an abrupt stop right in front of the person with the smiling pig face. Brian looked up at him and shrank back, fear taking hold of him as more shouting echoed throughout the room.

“WAIT! RIGHT! THERE!”

The canine was beginning to feel sensory overload. His body was shaking. He was disoriented, and his head felt heavy while he stared up at this looming figure in complete terror. Where had Ms. Leading gone? Why did it feel like this...thing...was looking right at him and directing his words specifically at him as he sang them?

“We’ll magnifyyyy and maximize your inner fiiiiire!”

Just when Brian felt like he was about to hop up from that chair and bolt out of the building, the creature stepped aside.

And he saw her again, dancing up to him. It seemed like the cheering in the room grew louder, and Brian heard someone nearby practically scream in his ear.

“Hello, Ms. Leading!”

The canine felt a flash of anger, but it quickly subsided when he saw that Ms. Leading was entirely focused on him, her eyes locked right on his as she moved her hips to the music and did a few twirls before taking her spot right in front of him again, that gorgeous voice of hers rising above the other women as they sang.

“Touch, taste, feel. Two times, The Dime.”

These...things this woman made him feel! He didn’t fully understand what any of it meant, but he knew they were positive feelings. Yes, this was all a bit much, and it had all happened pretty quickly. But, so long as she was there…

He liked this.

He liked Ms. Leading.

He loved having her attention as the pig came in for his next part.

“‘Caaause if you boyyyyys are niiiiiiice, the ladies here are cleeeeaaaann.”

The light moved to illuminate only her, the brightness around it completely blocking out anyone else from the sight of the dog. It was definitely an improvement. He didn’t care about anyone else. He only wanted to focus on her, and the dance she was performing for him.

Just him…

He barely even registered the sound of the man in the back crying out once more.

“They’re all clean!”

Ms. Leading tossed her hair around and blew the canine another kiss. Brian felt his excitement growing, a clear indicator being the rapid beating of his tail on the wood of the chair, pounding loud enough to almost drown out the music in the room. He showed his teeth and growled, something primal awakening in him as the voices of everyone in the room sang out.

“We know what the men all waaaant!”

He began to pant again, tongue hanging out as his eyes grew wider and wider, devouring the woman in front of him greedily while the pig’s voice rang throughout the building.

“And they know it isn’t free.”

Ms. Leading spun again, coming to a stop with her hands on her hips and her back facing her audience before looking backwards and shooting the canine a playful wink. Brian couldn’t contain his excitement any longer. He allowed his primal urges a moment of complete control as he let out a loud howl that briefly overtook all the other sounds in the place before quickly dying down. Ms. Leading stopped dancing momentarily. She appeared to be shocked for a second, but the smile quickly returned to her face as their eyes locked onto each other’s again.

“Her hiiiiiistoryyyy is left beeeehiii-iiind.”

The woman’s smirk returned next as she kneeled down in front of Brian.

“The iiiiignoraaaance has rooooom to breeaaathe.”

She then moved to lie down flat on her stomach, a palm cradling her chin as she continued to stare right into Brian’s wild eyes while a finger went up and beckoned the animal to come closer. The awestruck canine got the message and stood up out of his chair, bringing his face instinctively closer to hers.

“They plaaaaaay a paaaaart, and aaact a sceeene.”

Suddenly, the woman had grabbed him with both hands by the collar of his shirt and yanked him closer so that she could whisper into his ear again.

“You ready to get out of here already?”

The dog gulped, and Ms. Leading moved to place her forehead against his as she looked at him seriously while the song continued around them.

“The prehhh-judiiice.”

Where were they going next? He honestly didn’t care. He was ready for whatever came next and indicated this resolve with a firm nod of his head and a breathy reply.

“Yes.”

The pig sang out his final line with gusto and passion.

“The guiilllltyyy!”

Ms. Leading gave him an understanding hum as well as another kiss on his cheek before rotating her body and hopping down off the stage just as the music came to a crescendo. The song ended, but Brian had long stopped caring about the overall performance. Unlike all these other guys who were whooping and hollering for more, Brian was still and silent. He could hardly even hear the riotous noise around him, all sound having become muffled as his fuzzy mind was focused entirely on the woman standing beside him.

He just stood there, smiling dumbly at Ms. Leading before she finally took his paw and began to lead him through the crowd. It was a bit of a struggle to keep his balance as he followed her, paw now just barely hanging onto the bag he had almost forgotten was with him as it dragged across the floor, but she was kind enough to offer her support, draping his arm over her shoulders as they walked past a curtain that had been concealing a hallway. As they approached some stairs, Brian found that he was happy to finally be away from everyone else. He didn’t need anybody else right now.

Just her.

They were alone now, at last, ascending this staircase together, and he couldn't wait for whatever was coming next as the sounds of all the activity in the main area of The Dime slowly faded to nothing.

His head came to rest on hers, and he sighed happily.

“Thank you.”

The woman offered up no reply as she led him away from the stairs and towards a door at the end of the third floor hallway.

The night had only just begun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lyrics for The Bitter Suite I and II: Meeting Ms. Leading and Through the Dime:
> 
> I. Meeting Ms. Leading
> 
> She had the Summer's smile with Winter's skin; she moved,  
> A silhouette to serenade the soul.  
> She spoke with words beyond me and slowly I pulled away to receive a gesture implying an answer I didn’t have,  
> So I then smiled,  
> Responding, alarming,  
> “Yes.”
> 
> Her hands were the first I’d ever felt; she breathed.  
> Her lips hid her tongue from the world; she danced  
> To the doors, endearing, she carried me.  
> “What’s your name?” Conceding, “Ms. Leading”  
> She kindly suggests to her room to rest my head,  
> So I responded, unalarming...
> 
> Where’s her heart, where’s her heart?  
> Mimicking the matriarch.  
> He’s naive; blissfully ignorant and trusting but now...
> 
> II. Through the Dime
> 
> (Step right in!) Let her hips guide your desire.  
> Hey, kid, get a job.  
> (They have ways!) To satisfy, satisfy what you require.  
> Touch, taste, feel.  
> Two times, The Dime.
> 
> But the perks are more than price and the guarantee is clean.  
> (They're all clean!)  
> (We know what the men all want!) And they know it isn’t free.
> 
> Her history is left behind.  
> The ignorance has room to breathe.  
> They play a part and act a scene.  
> The prejudice, the guilty.
> 
> (Take a chair!) You’re not alone, the bed’s your home tonight.  
> Hey, kid, get a job.  
> (Wait right there!) We’ll magnify and maximize your inner fire.  
> Touch, taste, feel.  
> Two times, The Dime.
> 
> 'Cause if you boys are nice, the ladies here are clean.  
> (We know what the men all want!) And they know it isn’t free.
> 
> Her history is left behind.  
> The ignorance has room to breathe.  
> They play a part and act a scene.  
> The prejudice, the guilty.


	7. The Bitter Suite III: Embrace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one where The Fire is stoked by The Flame.

Brian stumbled along as Ms. Leading led him into a room. It was dark inside, something that took him by surprise, but he trusted the woman as she directed him into the black. By the time his eyes had started to adjust he felt her directing him to sit down. He quickly realized that she was leading him to a bed.

A real bed.

A human bed.

He’d only occasionally been able to relax on the one that was in his old home. His mother always liked to keep him close, and he had never argued against her. His first time going to lie down on it, he had been surprised by how comfortable it was, much more comfortable than the floor. It was nice to be on one again, although this one was closer to the ground than the one back home. It was familiar enough. He smiled and nestled himself into the sheets.

“Here. Give me this.”

It was Leading’s voice. He felt his bag being pulled free from his paw. For a moment, he had the urge to tighten his grip on the handle, but before that happened, he decided that his trust in her was stronger than any apprehension he may have felt. She had been good to him, so far. Why would that stop now? He let go and looked in the direction of where he had heard her voice in the dark.

“What are you doing with my stuff?”

He could feel her turn and walk away as he heard her response.

“I’m just setting it to the side, Brian. It will be there for you in the morning.”

He nodded, momentarily forgetting that she probably couldn’t even see him there in the dark.

_ The dark… _

He had never liked the dark, but there was something...tranquil about this setting. It put him at ease. There was nothing to see, and the only sounds he could make out were the sounds of Ms. Leading rummaging about the room, the necklace around her neck jingling faintly as she walked. What was she doing? He just wanted her to stay by his side.

_ Don’t...leave me… _

Things grew quiet, and for a moment, he began to worry that she had up and disappeared right into the void. A lump formed in his throat, and he was about to call out to her just to confirm that she was still there in the room with him.

“Ms.-?

A light arose into life somewhere behind him. He turned around and saw the woman holding a candle. She set the candle down on a small table that was against the back wall of the room and then turned around to look at him.

“Hmmmm?”

The light wasn’t all that bright, just a small flicker that painted the space in a faint glow. He couldn’t see her face, just the outline of her form now as she stood there, a slight shimmer around her neck, blue eyes piercing through the dark.

Maybe she  _ could _ see him.

It occured to Brian, after a moment, that she was awaiting an answer from him, but he had forgotten what he had even said. Everything in his mind was just so fuzzy. It was hard to focus on anything but her. A part of him wanted to collapse on the bed and fall asleep, but to sleep would mean to bring this amazing night to an end.

What if it was all just a dream?

It all certainly seemed too good to be true.

_ I can’t lose you... _

He still hadn’t responded, but she seemed to realize that no good answer was coming as she finally began moving. The woman walked back around to his side of the bed and then took a seat next to him, her hand immediately going to rest on one of his legs. She squeezed, and his breath hitched while she spoke to him again.

“What do you want, Brian?”

What did he want? Was there something specific she was offering? He was still picking up on emotions that made him feel like there was definitely something specific he needed, but he was just at a complete loss as to what that something could even be. Did she know what it was? Why wouldn’t she just help him figure it out, then? Did she know that she was making him feel these things?

Was she feeling them, too?

What...did she want?

There was a tension in the air between them. He could detect it plainly, but he couldn’t tell if it was a positive or negative energy. He didn’t know what to make of it nor what to do with it. It was actually really frustrating. He felt like he was missing something!

His head…

Why was he having such a hard time just processing his own thoughts and emotions? Why did it feel like he had to wade through a pool of syrup just to reach each individual thought? He felt encumbered, and there was both a concern and relief to be taken from that. His mind wasn’t as free to wander, and that… That was actually pretty nice.

“Brian?”

Oh, right… She was talking to him. He needed to say something.

The canine finally looked over at the shadow beside him, forcing a confident smile that he couldn’t show genuinely. He didn’t have an answer for her question, so he figured he’d turn it back on her. It felt like it might be his only hope to understand what was happening to him…to them…

“Why did you bring me up here?”

Her expression was hidden by the dark, but those eyes made it clear that his response had surprised her. There was a brief pause before she rolled her shoulders in a shrug.

“You just...looked like you could use some company for the night.”

Brian stared at her for a moment before uttering a single sound.

“Oh…”

An awkward silence fell over the room, then, Brian still no closer to making any sense of the sequence of events that had led him up here with her. He felt like he was doing something wrong.

He felt...foolish…

He didn’t want to seem foolish to her. He was grateful to even be in her presence!

...Maybe she would appreciate knowing that?

His throat was dry. He had to clear it before speaking again.

“Ahem… I… I’m glad I’m not alone. I’m glad you...wanted to keep me company.”

He felt the tension ease up a bit as she giggled.

_ The sound of an angel, my god… _

“It’s just what I do, handsome.”

She removed her hand from his leg, an action that left the canine disappointed for a moment before he felt her scooting in closer and placing her arm around his shoulders. His whole body shuddered, and he soon found himself falling over to the side, his arms going to wrap around her, cling to her. He then felt her other arm wrapping around him, and he sunk into the embrace.

She held him, and it was the most amazing thing in the world.

He squeezed her.

_ This… This is what I needed. _

Something powerful was welling up inside him, and he felt a wetness in his tear ducts. The dog closed his eyes and fought back a sudden urge to break down and cry. He didn’t want to scare her away. He didn’t think she would understand.

How could she understand? How could he even begin to explain everything he had been through before coming here with her…?

He began to pant, large intakes of air to try and calm himself.

_ Deep breaths. _

_ In. _

_ Out. _

_ In. _

_ Out. _

After a moment, the overwhelming urge to fall apart in her arms began to subside, and he could just focus on the incredible sensation of being so close to this person who had come along and made him feel such incredible affection.

“Ohhhhhhh…”

_ This is amazing. _

His head tilted to look at her face as he spoke plainly.

“I need you.”

He meant it. With her he felt secure...comfortable… He didn’t want to lose this.

...not again…

A hand that had been rubbing at his back suddenly stopped, and he felt her eyes go to him again. The blue orbs seemed to study him for a second before darkening. He then heard her whisper to him.

“Right… Of course. It’s what I’m here for, after all.”

Brian tilted his head at this.

_ What…? _

The next thing he knew, Ms. Leading was pushing him away and back up into a sitting position. He reluctantly followed her direction, not wanting their embrace to end but also curious to know what she was about to do. He watched her silhouette carefully, waiting for something to happen.

What did eventually happen was something he was not expecting in the slightest.

The woman stood up from the bed and began to remove her gloves. She tossed them to the floor, and Brian watched in confused excitement as they fluttered to the floor. When he looked back, she was kicking off her shoes, and then, the biggest surprise of all came when he saw her dress come down and completely off her body. The dark of the room didn’t allow him to see much, but he knew this woman was now naked before him as she stepped forward, the slight light around her making it seem like she was glowing, illuminating the darkness around her.

Brian gasped.

_ Ms. Leading...you’re my light… _

That was good. He’d have to write that down later...if he didn’t forget.

The woman climbed up into his lap, and Brian felt his entire body go still while his eyes focused on that necklace that was still around her neck. He leaned back, using his paws to brace himself while a groan escaped him in response to the weight now between his legs. He felt her hands begin to wander up and down his chest, and then, lips touched his neck.

She was touching him.

...Kissing him.

His head began to naturally lean away, allowing her further access to every part of his neck as she continued to leave a trail of soft kisses, but just as her hands began to undo the buttons of his shirt, the dog rolled his head around, leaning in and touching his lips to hers. It wasn’t something he fully understood, but it was as if some other force had guided him into doing the right thing for once.

Because this did feel right, his lips on top of hers, her mouth moving against his. It was such a strange sensation, exciting and new. Those lips… How was she doing that with her lips? Another groan escaped him once his shirt was undone and falling off his shoulders for his companion to grab and toss down to the floor. Her tongue slipped into his mouth, causing him to jump, but he did not pull away. No, instead he sat back up and dared to place his paws on her naked back, dared to touch her like she was touching him now. Her fingers were running through the fur on his chest, and his paws were caressing her back, occasionally going up to run through her soft hair, the two of them just getting further acquainted with each other in the calming dark.

It was all just so right…

He whined when she finally pulled away, something that she must have found funny because that now familiar laugh began to echo in the room as she climbed off of him, leaving that pressure between his legs to remain even after she was gone. Once she was standing in front of him again, her hands went down to his pants. The canine gasped in response to this sudden action, backing away only slightly while he watched her hands carefully. Ms. Leading quickly undid his belt and took the holster with his knife off of it before yanking the strip of leather free from all the loops on his pants. There was a whooshing sound, and then his belt was across the room before those prodding hands began to work at his button and zipper. It finally dawned on Brian that Ms. Leading was going to remove his pants just like she had done with his shirt. She was completely undressing him like she had done herself!

_ Oh...no… That...pressure between my legs… It must mean...and she’s going to…! _

Why would she do this!? Nobody was supposed to see that part of him!

His heart began to race, a part of him wanting to stop her before it was too late, but the woman was too quick. His pants came flying off in a flash, leaving him completely unclothed and more exposed before her than he had ever been with anyone else.

The dog began shaking. He watched her, watched those eyes as they focused in on his unsheathed appendage in a way that was a little too intrusive...and frightening.

What was she going to do?

...What did he  _ want  _ her to do?

His mind was lost in a haze of intrigue and uncertainty, leaving him paralyzed as he waited for her next move anxiously. After a moment, a thoughtful hum hit his ear, and then, he saw her looking back up at him, a smirk just barely visible in the dark as she spoke through heavy breath.

“Well...that’s certainly something new to work with.”

That laugh filled the room again before the woman leaned her face in closer to inspect the activity occurring between the canine’s legs. She breathed, and the breath ghosted across the fur on his thigh. It was soothing and warm, a pleasant enough sensation that allowed the tension to ease up in the dog’s body as she spoke again.

“I’m sure I can still do wonders with this thing, though.”

Her head turned, and Brian felt that hot breath blow over his shaft. His hips began to move of their own accord, seeking something that was entirely beyond him. The canine was ok with that, though. He was still nervous...and frustrated, but that sensation felt...amazing...unreal…

He liked it…

He liked this, whatever was going on between him and Ms. Leading, and he wanted more.

And he did get more but not before the woman seemed to comment on the motions he was making.

“You poor thing. You must be really worked up, huh?”

Worked up? Is that how he was supposed to describe this feeling in his gut?

He wasn’t able to vocalize an answer, only a whine pouring from his mouth in response while the woman’s hands went to touch his sensitive flesh. He'd touched himself out of curiosity before, but he'd never gotten much out of it in those rare moments back home.

This time, though?

It was unlike anything he'd ever done for himself. Her hands were cold, but the contrast provided with the warm air circling around him only made everything feel just that much more incredible. And, then, those hands began to move, and Brian just knew that he had found a little piece of what his body was so desperately searching for. The dog began to pant as his movements became more directed, moving back and forth against those hands and creating a friction that made his heavy mind almost go completely blank.

This entire time he had been watching her every move while her gaze had been dead focused on his body, but as her hands continued to move, he finally saw her head rotate up to look at him again, their eyes coming into direct contact as she smiled at him.

“This it, Brian? Is this what you meant when you said you needed me?”

_ Was it? _

"Yes."

He didn’t even stop to mull his answer over. It just flew right out of him, honest and true. It was the only thing he was able to say, though. The dog was rendered speechless from that point on, hips continuing to move back and forth as he focused on the wonderful feelings Ms. Leading was pulling out of him. His panting resumed, tongue eventually falling out as he gulped up air like he would have on a particularly hot day while out hunting, except the heat was coming from somewhere deep within him. It was rather cool in the room, really.

He heard her speak again.

“Well, I certainly don’t want to disappoint, so…”

Brian didn’t even have a chance to react as the woman then leaned in and began touching him with her tongue. One of his paws went up to lightly grip her head as she proceeded to run her tongue up and down his exposed skin, lapping away like he would have at a pool of water when he was thirsty. His panting increased in frequency, and he shut his eyes tightly due to how intense everything was feeling. It was maddening, really. It felt like this was...too intense, but he also couldn’t pull away. That fire inside him was continuing to grow, burning bright and hot to match the intensity of the sensations down below.

“Ohhhhhhhhh.”

It took some time before he had adjusted to this latest experience in a night full of novel ones. He opened his eyes and looked down in awe at this woman who seemed right in her element down there touching and tasting him.

_ Ms. Leading… W-Wow… _

She was a beautiful flower in full bloom, unhindered and free.

It was all just so right...for both of them…

He stroked her hair affectionately while continuing to watch.

_ I never knew life could ever be this good… _

Something she did made him shiver, a swirl of her tongue at the peak that earned another groan from him.

_...did you…Leading? _

He sighed, and more and more pleasured sounds began to flow from out of him, slightly parted mouth, clenched teeth.

“Ohhhhhhh. Hsssssss. Ahhhhhhhh. Mmmmmmmm…”

He heard similar noises starting to come from her in between the wet sounds of her tongue slipping in and out of her mouth. His were wild, the most animalistic vocalizations he had probably ever made. Hers were almost musical, soft and pristine in the notes they hit as they graced his perked up ears. And, yet, they both seemed to harmonize in a way that was somehow appealing in spite of being so dissonant. Their song filled the room, and it filled Brian with the desire to move with more urgency, a violent and crude dance that he couldn’t help but get swept up in. His movements were messing up the sheets on the bed, as was the paw that was gripping and pulling at them in search of something to keep himself grounded. He was floating away, their harmonious sighs seeming to become distant in his mind. The dog averted his gaze from the woman pleasuring him, once again finding it to be too much to take in. He began to scan what little he could see of the room, and his eyes eventually landed on the scattered articles of clothing on the floor while Ms. Leading began to whisper incredible things to him.

“Think I’ve already gotten the hang of handling this tool of yours, handsome.”

“Looks like you’re particularly sensitive here.”

“You like that?”

“You’re actually pretty cute when you’re overwhelmed, Brian.”

“Am I too much for you?”

“Are you enough for me?”

A constant string of breathy words intermingled with the sounds the two of them were already making, intimate vocals to go along with the beautiful music that made him feel so alive.

“You ready for more, my dear?”

The dog looked back at her, face awash with exhaustive emotion as he muttered in disbelief.

“M-More…?

She giggled, nodding her head while leaning up to press her lips to his briefly before pulling away.

“Yes, Brian. More. There’s still so much more for us to do together.”

It didn’t sound possible. He didn’t believe her…

She winked at him.

“If you can handle it, of course.”

And, then, she sank back down to where she had been.

Brian waited for her to continue.

He didn’t expect what came next.

The majesty of it...

Suddenly, she had taken him into her mouth, and Brian’s whole body went rigid as he howled out ferally.

“Awroooooooo!”

She had completely engulfed him. He could feel the insides of her mouth and throat all around his pulsing shaft, and all he could do was sit there and let the glorious torture consume him as he finally began to move again. The woman began to move, too, up and down, taking him in and out repeatedly, and it was like he could feel every little nuance in the motion as that tongue continued to slink lewdly and do new and incredible things in tune with the repetitive motion.

Brian felt like he couldn’t even breathe. It felt like he was drowning in Ms. Leading, and it was the most amazing feeling he’d ever experienced.

The canine growled and placed his other paw on top of her head, something wild inside him taking over as he held her in place while thrusting back and forth. Somewhere deep in the recesses of his flooded mind, he was worried that he was being too violent with this delicate rose, but she made no indication that she wanted him to stop. If anything, the enthusiasm with which she serviced him seemed to indicate that she was getting just as much enjoyment out of this as him.

Was she? Was she experiencing the same intense satisfaction that he was? Did she feel the same heat building and building up and up inside of her, growing and growing more and more intense, impossibly brilliant and vibrant, getting better and better and better, pressure rising and rising and rising until…

...a momentary silence…

Then a ringing in his ears as he cried out to the heavens.

“AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!”

It all came to a head as Brian felt the culmination of everything he’d been feeling, one last giant wave of gratification coming to sweep him away as he lost his grip and began falling backwards onto the bed. It happened as if in slow-motion, a gradual descent as the breath caught in his throat. It was almost like he was drowning in the vicious wave crashing over him. He could feel it pulling him down into an invisible sea that stole the breath right out of his lungs, leaving him there to possibly drown in this room with the most incredible individual he’d ever known. And, yet, despite the size of his wide, seemingly frightened eyes, the dog was not scared. If he was going to drown here, he welcomed it.

At least for now. At least while his mind was consumed by the greatest pleasure he had ever known. If it was going to cost him his life, he couldn’t help but feel like it had all been worth it.

What else did he have to come back to, anyway…?

By the time Brian had come crashing back onto the bed, it felt like a whole lifetime had gone by. It also felt like it had all happened in the blink of an eye. His mind was just full of contradicting feelings and perceptions as he gasped for air and gave himself over to a few more smaller waves, jolts of satisfaction that shot up and down his body before finally ebbing away into comfortable numbness while he sighed in utter contentment. The canine gripped the sheets underneath him and began to breathe in and out deeply as he tried to catch his breath, slowly resurfacing from the sea that had so suddenly overtaken him.

Time passed. Seconds. Minutes. He didn’t know how long he remained lying there, eyes completely focused on a ceiling that he could not see as he slowly recovered from Ms. Leading’s ministrations. He could still detect that woman somewhere by the side of the bed, but he lacked the strength to look up and see what she was doing. After a while, he was pleased to find her climbing up to join him. She laid her body down right beside him on the bed and placed a small hand on his chest. It began to rise and fall with his steady breathing, causing a smile to come to the canine’s lips while he listened to her speak.

“Did you get everything you needed, Brian?”

The dog slowly nodded his head, completely at a loss for any words to speak. The woman beside him simply chuckled and allowed a silence to fall over the room.

A little while later, though, Brian felt her coming in closer, and then, those amazing lips of hers began to press against his neck again as she started to pet at his fur lovingly. For the second time that night, he leaned his head away, allowing her full access to the area while he hummed happily and basked in her affection. He still didn’t fully understand why she was doing all of this for him, but he also figured there was no sense questioning fate.

This was just meant to be, him and her.

He could feel it.

Her kisses continued along his body as she made her way from his neck to his shoulders before rolling on top of him so that she could reach his torso. It was at that moment when Brian realized that she was not completely naked like he was. No, he could detect the distinct feeling of soft, slick fabric down below her waist as she moved around on top of him. It was just a fleeting observation, though. The cold of the metal that made up her necklace could be felt, too, but it did little to distract him from just lying there, eyes still completely focused upward towards the ceiling as he savored every instance of her lips touching his body, every stroke of her hands through his fur. It was simply unbelievable what she was able to do to him with such little effort. He moaned at the touches, his body slowly coming back to life as he writhed around weakly on the bed, mind feeling like it was treading water. Eventually, his head finally moved so that he could look in her direction.

He wasn’t surprised to see her smiling up at him. He watched as she kissed his chest, a much softer and more prolonged kiss that was unlike the others that had come before, and the whole time her eyes never left his, leaving the canine completely under her spell as she pulled away and spoke to him again.

“Should I stop, handsome?”

He immediately shook his head slowly.

“No… Please...don’t…”

He needed this to last for as long as possible even though it felt like his body could barely handle anything more she may have to offer.

Ms. Leading smiled at him slyly before continuing her journey downward, her kisses now trailing along his stomach before arriving at his waist while her hands continued to roam up and down his sides. He could feel the exhaustion slowly letting up as that familiar fire began to burn once more. The dog whimpered and made a weak thrusting motion into a leg that was resting between his own. The woman looked up at him again, snickering as one of her hands began to reach down towards where the motion had happened.

“Feels like you’re about ready for another round, my dear. I must say, I’m surprised. You didn’t seem like the type to keep going for so long.”

Her hand touched his slowly rising appendage. She began to stroke it with her fingertips as she continued talking to him.

“You’re quite the conundrum, Brian. You show up out of nowhere, refusing to give any clear answers about where you’re from or why you’re in town, looking confused and disheveled with some of the most outdated clothes I've ever seen in this already outdated town. You seem so shy and confused about what’s going on, and yet, that animal in you still can’t help but break out when I have you good and going.”

The lids of her eyes dropped slightly as she stared at him curiously.

“I’m usually quite good at reading people, but with you…”

She squeezed him, and Brian gasped as he hung on to her every word.

“Nothing...seems clear. I must say, I find you quite...intriguing.”

That confidant smile slowly returned to her lovely face as she began to move the hand that was grabbing him up and down.

“That’s ok, though. I welcome the challenge.”

Brian was too far gone to make any sense of what Ms. Leading was saying. By now, he was moving his hips just as enthusiastically as before as he felt the process of giving in to the heat within him starting to begin anew. He shut his eyes and focused on the feeling of Ms. Leading’s hand.

So strong…

So secure…

That hand remained there, moving up and down for some time before she finally released him, causing a high-pitched whine to escape the canine as he opened his eyes and looked down at her in confusion. The woman was climbing off of him. She then grabbed him by the arm and began to pull him along the bed, repositioning him so that his whole body was lying on it.

“I’m not about to do this with you in your current state while hanging off the edge of the mattress. So, be a good boy and get up here. I’ll make it worth your while.”

Brian gave in without any protest, only groaning as he weakly shimmied his body along the bed and into the position his companion was guiding him towards. His head eventually came to rest on the pillows at the top of the bed, and he had to admit, it was a much more comfortable position than the one he’d been in before.

So...cozy…

He had a moment where the desire to sleep almost took hold of him, but then, he felt Ms. Leading climbing on top of him again and the need for sleep was all but forgotten. With his head propped up by the pillows, it was easier to just lie there and take in her beauty, the flickering light in the room continuing to radiate around her and reflect off that cross around her neck in a way that made her seem like an absolute goddess straight out of mythology.

She practically was.

Her Summer’s smile.

That Winter’s skin.

All the natural beauty of the Earth encapsulated in this single, brown-haired goddess of a woman.

And she was with him.

She  _ chose  _ to be with him!

_ L-Leading...thank you... _

Something cold suddenly came into contact with the organ down below his waist. The canine flinched at the slightly uncomfortable sensation. That was not her hands touching him now. No, this wasn’t solid and strong like her. What was on him now was...wet...but also kind of thick. It was...sort of off-putting. He wasn't sure what to make of it, and that must have been clear by the expression on his face because Ms. Leading began to roll her eyes at him.

“Oh, suck it up, dear. It’s all going to feel wonderful again in a moment.”

She then unceremoniously took a hold of him again and began to spread the substance all around his shaft, coating it completely. Luckily, the chill it brought soon gave way to a soothing heat as her hand rubbed at him vigorously. The grimace that must have been on his face, fell away into a content smile as he sighed happily while watching her. She smiled back while shaking her head.

“See? Ms. Leading knows how to take care of a worked-up little horn dog like yourself.”

Her words were so beyond him, but he didn’t care. He just liked to watch her...to hear her...to feel her. Maybe in time, he would learn to understand what all of this meant, but right now, he just had to embrace this gift he had been given, a wonderful and intimate evening with this woman. He watched her carefully, trying to take it all in. He watched as she rose up for a moment, hand still reaching back and holding him tightly as she repositioned herself on top of him.

What was she doing?

It all only became that much more confusing when he felt the tip of his flesh graze against something, skin...her skin. His heart stopped, and his eyes went the widest they had been during his entire time here in her room.

_ What are you-? _

She lowered herself, and then, he felt his body entering something warm and compact, a completely different sensation from when he had been in her mouth, more friction, more heat...just…

More.

He knew he was entering her again, but his mind wasn’t fully putting together exactly in what way it was happening. The fire inside him had sparked into an inferno, a lake of fire roiling in his body as he began to breathe in and out sporadically, sharp intakes of breath as his body succumbed to a pleasure that in no way felt of this Earth.

How was it even possible…?

“Aaaaaa-aaaaa-aaaaaahhhhhh!”

The look on her face… He felt like he was seeing something that no one else had ever had the honor of seeing before, something meant just for her...and now him. Ms. Leading’s eyes were shut tightly, and she was breathing in a similar but calmer manner to him, sitting completely still. In a way, it was torture. The dog had an overwhelming desire to just start moving, but he was afraid of hurting her. He couldn’t tell if she was feeling the same mind-boggling sensations that he was or if she was in some kind of pain. Her face just wasn’t making it clear.

It worried him.

The canine reached his paw out and took her hand. The woman opened her eyes and looked at him in a way that was unreadable to Brian, but the canine ignored this as he spoke to her.

“Are you ok?”

Her eyes widened at the question, and she let out a quick loud laugh before responding.

“Wh-What? Yes, of course! Don’t…”

The unreadable expression faded away into that smirk he had grown so accustomed to seeing.

“...worry about it.”

The return to the familiar was enough to ease Brian’s mind as he nodded, deciding to take the woman’s word for it. She offered a single nod in his direction, as well, before taking a breath and starting to move. He watched as she rose up, bringing along the feeling of gliding out of her before quickly entering once again. It was slow, at first, but after several repetitions of the motion, the woman was practically bouncing in his lap. As for Brian, he was doing his damndest to fight against his instinct to start moving on his own, but it was a fight he could feel himself quickly losing. He was groaning and growling, eyes occasionally flitting up towards the ceiling while he gripped and clawed at the sheets on the bed. Primal urges began to cloud an otherwise rational mind, and it was both exhilarating and frightening. All the while, Ms. Leading was moving on top of him, making the sweetest sounds he’d ever heard. Before he had wondered if she was feeling as amazing as him, but now, he could see it...hear it…

She was right there with him, experiencing the same otherworldly satisfaction that he was, and it set his heart alight with joy to know that.

A moan poured out of her, and Brian found his hips bucking upwards in response, a sharp ringing coming from her necklace to indicate the force of the movement. This action seemed to earn a gasp from her, as well as a big smile that seemed to instantly spread across her red lips. Her pleasure spurred him on, his hips starting to move up and down to meet her movements, a jingle of the necklace sounding off to signal each thrust. Soon the both of them were completely in sync, hand held tightly by paw as they moved against each other and allowed their exclamations of pleasure to reverberate all throughout the room.

“L-Leading!”

“Ahhhhhhhhhh!”

“It’s amazing!”

“Br-Brian!”

“Ohhhhhhhh!”

“You’re not...too bad...yourself, boy!”

The speed of their movements kept gradually increasing in pace, the ringing steadily growing louder. Brian’s moans were quickly transforming into pure, feral growls as the animal in him gained more and more control. He couldn’t contain it for much longer. No matter how hard he gripped the sheets underneath him, he knew he had lost all hope of containing the beast within, a creature of pure need and instinct.

All it took was one more shrill shout from the woman on top of him to awaken it.

“Goooooooood looooooooord!”

And upon hearing her cry, the canine’s eyes went blank. He bared his teeth, snapping his jaw before releasing Ms. Leading’s hand and grabbing her by the hips. The animal then rolled them both over, sending Ms. Leading falling onto her back and reversing their positions so that he was now on top while he began rapidly thrusting his hips back and forth, all caution he’d previously had totally abandoned, completely lost to the moment.

Ms. Leading’s cries became louder but also more breathy. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held the animal close to her form as she cried out into the dark void surrounding them, only managing to get a single word out with each movement of the dog's body, singing out over the ringing of the jewelry around her neck.

“Brian! Oh! Brian! Oh! My! God! You’re! Just! Full! Of! Surprises! Aren’t! You! Handsome!”

But the dog wasn’t really listening to a word, just focusing on the pitch and the cadence of her voice as it urged him to continue doing what came most naturally. As for himself, anything resembling normal speech had given way to purely animalistic growls and whimpers as his intelligent mind sunk deeper and deeper into the sea of impossibly divine satisfaction that resided somewhere in the back of his heart. He was driving towards an inevitable finish, desperate to sate this need that had been awakened inside him. All he could do was allow that to consume him more and more while he drove himself in and out of Leading repeatedly.

The woman cried out again.

“Bloody h-hehhhhh-ll!"

And he felt her tug at the fur at the back of his neck violently as she arched her back and let out a pure, vicious, high-pitched scream.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!”

Her body began to vibrate and constrict around the animal forcefully, and Brian felt that same rising pressure that he had experienced only a little while ago. This time it rushed up to its boiling point much more quickly, surprising him and causing his body to go completely still for several seconds as he held the woman tightly and muttered her name into her ear.

“L-Leading… Ms. Leading…”

All the strength and energy that had been building up over the last several minutes had become too much to contain. It burst out of him, a violent eruption that sent his body into spasms along with the woman below him who was now breathing heavily next to his ear. The dog allowed a small, quiet howl to sound from his lips, feeling only slightly embarrassed as the intensity of the moment began to gradually subside. Only a few more aftershocks were able to rumble through him before he finally allowed his legs to give out. He pulled out and collapsed to the side with his arms still firmly around Ms. Leading, clutching at her for support and comfort while keeping his eyes shut tightly.

Everything was perfect.

Time passed. Seconds. Minutes. Brian kept his face buried in the crook of Leading’s neck as he recovered from the strenuous activity he’d just taken part in. He squeezed her and breathed her in over and over as the comfort of the bed invited him to finally give in and fall into slumber. The dog fought to deny that invitation, though. He caught himself drifting off and shook his head to ward away the urge to sleep, his eyes finally opening to look up at the woman he was holding.

The sight of it…

One of his arms was cradling her neck. The other was lying across her front with his paw resting on her chest. One of her hands was holding onto his paw, and he noticed that her gaze was directed upwards towards the ceiling. The woman appeared to be...thinking about something. Brian wanted to ask her what that might be, but he also wasn’t too sure if it was his place to know, really.

He still didn’t fully understand what any of this meant…this experience he had taken part in with Leading...it awoke something in him...feelings that weren’t entirely unfamiliar, but they were definitely new.

He knew that part of it was love, for sure, a different kind of love than any he’d ever experienced but love nonetheless.

He loved her…

The thought brought about a moment of clarity in a night where clarity had been hard to come by. It caused him to gasp audibly as he rolled it over in his mind again.

_ I love you… _

The sound he’d made was enough to finally get her attention. She looked over at him, her eyebrow rising to indicate an unspoken question.

“Hmmmm?”

Brian looked into her deep, blue eyes, wondering what he should say next, but the words just would not come. A fear took hold of him, a fear that vocalizing his thoughts would cause this night to end in disaster. He couldn’t risk ruining this.

Not tonight…

So, the canine opted to just smile at the woman before leaning up and placing a quick kiss upon her lips. That would be enough.

For now…

Ms. Leading’s lips parted slightly, but she did not say anything as she continued staring at the dog inquisitively. The hand on Brian’s paw began to pet at his fur, and then she turned her head back to face forward, eyes going down to her chest and the paw that was lying there. She turned it over and looked at the flesh on the underside that was still stained red, another hum emitting from her, this time just to herself.

“Hmmmm…”

Brian’s smile fell.

The red.

The blood…

_ Mom… _

Under normal circumstances, he probably would have allowed himself to cry, but he found that he lacked the energy even for that. It had been a long night, an exhausting night, and the longer he lay there, the harder it became to keep his eyes open. They fell shut several times as he tried to keep his attention on the woman next to him. He was even sure that he had dozed off for a few seconds, maybe minutes, at one point.

And, each time he opened his eyes, he saw Ms. Leading there, still staring at his paw.

What was she thinking?

It was the primary thought on his mind as the time ticked by, his paw still there on her chest. That necklace was within grasp. He could detect the rapid beating of her heart.

He listened to it.

He felt it.

He felt the life inside her.

She was full of it.

His eyes shut once more, and he was about to doze off again. But, then, he felt Ms. Leading pulling away from him, and it was enough to jolt him back into full alertness, if for just a brief while.

“Wh-What are you doing?”

But the woman didn’t say anything as she got up from the bed and disappeared into the dark. A panic gripped the canine. Had he done something wrong? Was she upset? He didn’t understand why she would get up and leave him here alone so suddenly. He wanted to follow after her, but the moment he tried moving his body, he realized it just wasn’t possible. He was too impaired, too tired. All he could do was look toward the direction in which she had left and wait.

It didn’t take her much time to return, but to Brian it felt like far too long since he’d last seen her. He couldn’t keep the smile off his face as she climbed back over to him. He went to speak but stopped when he felt her taking one of his paws, forcing him to roll over on his back as she revealed a wet rag that she must have been carrying with her. He blinked and tilted his head, wondering what she was about to do. It wasn’t until the rag came into contact with his paw and she started to wipe at the red stain that he realized what was happening.

She was washing them…

His jaw fell, but he didn’t pull away as he allowed her the opportunity to do what he had wished he could. He could just make out the barely audible words she spoke to herself.

“Forgot about these...glad it’s dry...lucky I let you...”

The canine could feel himself slipping in and out of consciousness. The woman had already moved on to his other paw, but he couldn’t recall her finishing up with the first…

He just didn’t have the energy to pay attention…

He was ready to finally sleep…

He...needed...sleep…

…

…

…

“Brian, what is this?”

The dog’s eyes slowly opened as he heard his companion speaking to him. He groggily looked up at her, eyes taking some time to adjust before he was able to see what she was talking about. The image cleared to reveal Ms. Leading holding up his right paw and pointing at a scar that the bloodstain had been concealing all this time. Her eyebrow was quirked as she addressed him again.

“How did you get this? It looks pretty nasty.”

Brian looked at the scar, but he honestly couldn’t remember where it had come from. He’d had it for as long as he could remember...he thought… It was never something he paid much attention to.

It was just a part of him.

But, as he thought about it, he could feel himself starting to recall something about it...something he hadn’t thought about in a long time…

He wasn’t able to pull forth the memory, though. His mind was too far gone, and he could feel his eyes already falling shut again as he tried to speak to Ms. Leading one more time before he left her again.

_ I...don’t...remember… _

The words didn’t make it out of him before he drifted off into sleep for the final time that night.

Ms. Leading didn’t say anything more as she continued staring at that scar. She looked at it and the dog in her bed, eyes moving back and forth between them as she tried to process everything going on in her mind.

All the while, Brian was deep in sleep, deep in a dream.

In his dream, the dog was standing in a large body of water during the dead of night. He looked out onto the horizon, but the massive expanse stretched on as far as he could see in every direction.

He was alone.

“Hello!?”

He called out into the dark, but there was no response, not even an echo. His heart sank. His head fell.

And that’s when he realized that it wasn’t just his heart that was sinking. He couldn’t explain it, but somehow, his entire body was beginning to sink into the shallow water.

“What!? No!”

He pulled one of his legs out, but it did nothing to stop his body from falling further and further. He didn’t understand it. His feet were touching the bottom. How was this possible!? He knew he had to find some way out of the water, so he began running, hoping to find the shore somewhere...eventually!

A futile effort.

There was no land anywhere in sight, and each step he took caused him to sink even more into the seemingly endless sea. His heart began to beat frantically. He blinked and the water was up to his neck, but he just kept moving forward, trying his best to swim and stay afloat.

Where was he!?

Where was anybody!?

“HELP!!!!”

It was the last thing he was able to say before the sea finally consumed him.

And then…

He was sinking.

Down.

Down.

Down.

Down.

Down.

The bottom was gone, leaving just an endless void below him as the surface slowly faded from view. Before long, there was nothing, just him and the never-ending ocean surrounding him on all sides, impossible to escape. He was going to drown.

And he was ok with it.

He wasn’t sure how or why, but the gripping fear that had overcome him was now gone, and despite knowing that he would soon pass on from the world of the living, he was ok with that. He was at peace with that, more at peace than he’d probably ever been. He welcomed this total submersion into the depths. A smile formed across his lips as he shut his eyes…

...and awaited the end…

…

…

…

The end did not come.

…

...

Only a new beginning.

All of a sudden, he felt himself emerging from the sea, his eyes flying open to find that he was now treading water underneath a bright, sunny Summer sky. Compared to the darkness from before, the light was almost an annoyance. He had to squint against it and wait for his eyes to adjust before he could make out where he had arrived. Once he could see, though, he immediately knew where he was.

It was the lake.

He was back home.

“Huh?”

He swam around and scanned the entire area just to confirm this strange turn of events. This was most certainly the same lake he had grown up by. The river was there, the tree...

But...how had he gotten here?

Had...it always been this beautiful here…?

“Brian!”

That voice…

He whirled around and saw Ms. Leading naked and swimming towards him.

Where had she come from?

He didn’t care.

A large grin spread across his expression as he opted to push all of his questions to the side. Why would he question this? It was perfect.

The canine waved at the woman.

“Leading!”

And he began to swim to meet her, embracing her and kissing her deeply once they were with each other again. They stayed out there for a small eternity, holding each other close and expressing their deep love for each other out there in the water. It wasn’t until Brian heard another voice that they finally pulled their attention away from each other.

“Brian! Dear! Time to head back to the house, son!”

Brian went completely still in the woman’s arms.

Dear… Son…

He turned his head and was shocked and elated to see his mother over on the shore calling out to him.

The tears immediately filled his eyes as he cried back to her.

“Mom!”

The female Labrador was smiling at him and motioning with her head for him to come back ashore. The canine almost bolted off towards her but stopped to look back at Leading first, the tears coming down his face strongly, a constant waterfall as he choked out the few words he could say.

“She’s...ok…”

The woman nodded and reached up to wipe away his tears.

“Of course she is, Brian…”

He didn’t understand.

He didn’t want to.

Ms. Leading released him and began to swim away.

“Let’s go home, dear.”

She then dove under the water.

Brian didn’t hesitate, diving into the depths along with her as the two of them began to swim for home.

Together.

* * *

Much later into the night, Stewie was still awake, eyes completely focused on the strange dog in his bed that was making him feel things he’d never felt before.

Curious eyes blinked at the animal.

_ Who...are you…? _

But no clear answer came to mind, and it wasn’t until the light of the sun began to shine through his window that he finally gave up on finding one and began to get ready for a brand new day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lyrics for The Bitter Suite III: Embrace:
> 
> Darkness, hesitation.  
> I fell into her arms.  
> Breathe in, this is amazing.  
> Breathe out, this is amazing.  
> She removed her clothes and all of the world shined.  
> Now that we’re alone all of the world shines.
> 
> First hot breath, then cold hands,  
> Intrusion, but aware.  
> The fire inside was all light and she bloomed,  
> And I never knew life could ever be this good.
> 
> The distant sighs, the clothes on the floor,  
> The bedding a mess, she sings for more.
> 
> We fall beneath the sea in the back of our hearts and fail to breathe until we resurface again.
> 
> She had the Summer’s smile with Winter's skin,  
> And all along with words beyond me she welcomed me in.
> 
> We fall beneath the sea in the back of our hearts and fail to breathe until we resurface again.


End file.
